Natural Teeth Whitening Methods

Many people don't want to use harsh bleaching to have sparkly white teeth. What are the natural methods of tooth whitening that do not involve harsh chemicals and chemical bleaching?

Let's look first at what causes teeth to loose their whiteness. The most obvious way, and by far the most common is the typical yellow stains you see as you consume too much tea, coffee, cola, red wine & tobacco. Tobacco in particular can cause teeth to quickly develop unsightly yellow stains.

If you have badly stained teeth you will find any natural ways of whitening very hard. The good news is these yellow stains are easy to get rid of with bleaching products that do not have to be very harsh. You are much better off getting a professional bleaching treatment by a dentist for these kinds of stains. It is quick and relatively inexpensive. If you are interested in natural health, its unlikely you will be abusing alcohol, tobacco and caffeine in any event, so this will not apply to you.

Less common is the blue -gray type of staining that is often caused by taking excessive amounts of the antibiotic tetracyclin (as well as its derivative compounds minocycline and doxycycline.) If tetracyclin products are taken when your growing your first teeth, discoloration can occur. Fuoride also causes tooth discoloration particularly in children. Excessive amounts of ingested fluoride can cause mottled teeth. Bleaching is not very effective at removing these stains.

The second way, which is not all obvious is loss and deterioration of the structure of the enamel, which causes the underlying dentin to become more visible leaving a yellowed look. This is the most common cause of our yellow teeth and happens as we loose the enamel over time through age. This also leads to greater tooth sensitivity, especially with hot and cold liquids.

Re-building the enamel and allowing the tooth to naturally remineralize will build up the enamel and block the underlying dentin, strengthen the teeth, and improve our overall health.

5 Easy steps to Naturally Whiter Teeth.

Remove the Stains and Naturally Oxidate your teeth
Mix baking soda and sea salt 50/50 in container. Take a small amount of the mixture in a separate cup or container such as small glass or a shot glass. Add a small amount of hydrogen peroxide until the mixture starts fizzing, and brush on. Hydrogen peroxide has been used for teeth whitening by dentists for years. In typical hydrogen peroxide teeth whitening solutions, you'll find a strength of 3% to 10% with varying degrees of effectiveness. In the hydrogen perxoide you buy at Wallmart it will be a 3% solution or less. The baking soda gets rid of stains, and the hydrogen peroxide has a gentle bleaching action.

Throw away your toothpaste with Fluoride and Gylcerin
You can use the baking soda and sea salt mixture, but it's best not to use it all the time. The baking soda is abrasive. Alternatively, you can buy commercial toothpastes from Eco-dent - which is a toothpowder which is sold at health foods stores and Whole Foods. If you have never used a toothpowder before, put a small pea sized amount on your palm and pick it up using a wet toothbrush. After that, its just like using a paste. Also good is a paste high in calcium and anti-bacterial agents to promote enamel growth and reduce dental bacteria from http://www.coralcalcium.com. You can also buy tooth soap - just google it, and you will find many suppliers on-line. Or just use a natural olive oil based soap made naturally with no fragrances from a whole food supplier or soap-maker. Don't use a bar soap like Dove or other mass produced soap using petro-chemicals. Not only does it taste awful, you don't want to be rinsing you mouth with petro-chemcial byproducts. The toothsoap sounds awful, but you can used to it very quickly.

Oil Pulling
Your saliva acts as a natural agent to re-mineralize your teeth. Many people have reported great success with dental health issues and have reported whiter teeth from swishing sesame or olive oil in the mouth. You simply take a tablespoon of oil, and pull it through the teeth for 5 minutes or longer. The oil will turn white after a while. The process will really stimulate the salivary glands, and will help to detoxify the mouth.

Sunshine
The best way to regrow the enamel is from within by supplying the body with all the minerals it needs to promote healthy enamel mineralization. Vitamin D is the trigger to the body to find the regulate the balance of calcium and phosphorus to support mineralization. Most people are very deficient in Vitamin D. It's almost impossible to get even sun during the winter to supply enough natural Vitamin D, and studies have shown that over half the population is deficient in Vitamin D. Best food sources are krill oil and cod liver oil.

Diet
For further details on a specific diet, see the following article.

Natural Products to Avoid
Avoid the strawberries, lemon juice or other fruit which are highly acidic and strip the enamel. Even your morning orange juice can be harmful. You can sip water to wash the acids away.