The Hazards Of Fruit For Whitening Teeth At Home

The Hazards Of Fruit For Whitening Teeth At Home

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People who seek to avoid using chemical tooth whiteners often advocate using a more natural method of lightening tooth color instead. Baking soda is probably the most commonly known suggestion for an effective at home teeth whitening method, but many people also advocate using certain fruits to serve the purpose. For example, some suggest using mashed strawberries to brush the teeth. Others swear by a mouthwash of lemon juice and salt, or even wiping citrus peels across the teeth. But do these natural fruit methods really do the job?

Using lemons as an at home teeth whitening method depends on citric acid to do the whitening. Yet the means by which this acid creates the whiter effect is to leech calcium from the enamel. Since it's the calcium itself that makes the teeth a sort of off white rather than white, removing it does fulfill the goal of making the teeth much whiter. But losing the calcium also makes the teeth weaker, with thinner enamel. Add to this the extra sugar in the fruit, and this tooth whitener could ultimately become responsible for more cavities.

Are strawberries any more effective as a homemade teeth whitener? Probably not. Its seeds are abrasive and can scrape and damage your teeth, and the acid can have much the same result as lemons. In fact, the acid in strawberries actually softens the enamel. This is why it's suggested that people will want to wait 20 minutes after eating them before brushing the teeth, to allow the saliva an opportunity to replenish the minerals in the enamel. Using actual strawberries to clean your teeth, especially habitually, is probably not the most appropriate strategy for attaining whiter teeth.

There's an irony involved in using at home teeth whitening methods that make tooth enamel thinner and weaker. For the most part, the yellowish color of teeth comes from the dentin inside, and the color shows through the enamel, which is translucent. So if that enamel gradually becomes thinner, this yellowish color will eventually become more prominent. A tooth whitener designed to remove yellow may ultimately make it more pronounced instead. It would seem that even though they sound healthier, using strawberries or lemons don't serve the purpose of whitening teeth very well.

Indeed, with most of your teeth's color being determined by the dentin, it may not truly be practical to whiten teeth much more than they were to start with. The more vital task is to keep the teeth healthy, and a continual application of either lemons or strawberries is not likely to accomplish that goal.

About the Author:
The popularity of teeth whitening products and procedures has grown enormously in the last little while. Lots of people are becoming aware that a white smile is a great way to look more attractive, not to mention younger. Find out what your choices are in an over the counter teeth bleaching product at the Teeth Bleaching site.



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