Want a beautiful smile for the holidays, but don’t have time to visit your dentist? The holidays can be a very busy time, but there is a natural way to keep your teeth white. In today’s blog, your Des Moines Dentist, Dr. Stephen Burds discusses facts about baking soda.  

FAQs

Fact #1: When your teeth first erupt they are pearly white, but they can become discolored and stained as you age. One reason is that your tooth enamel becomes thinner. As your enamel thins, it allows the off-white, yellowish dentin to show through making your teeth appear yellowed. Your teeth also become stained over the months and years by the foods you eat and the beverages you drink.

Fact #2: If what you are eating or drinking will stain your clothes, it will likely stain your teeth as well.

Fact #3: The following foods and beverages are among those known to stain teeth: tomato sauce, colored sodas, chocolate, tea, hot sauce, and coffee.

Fact #4: Baking soda with lemon juice work to remove stains and whiten teeth.

Fact #5: Mix a paste of baking soda and lemon juice, brush it onto your teeth, let set a minute, then brush it off your teeth.

Fact #6: If you find lemon juice too harsh or unpalatable it can be replaced with salt.

Fact #7: The baking soda-lemon juice mixture has a two-fold process: lemon juice whitens the teeth and the sodium bicarbonate helps to remove stains.

Fact #8: This method can be abrasive so it is only recommended a few times a week.

Fact #9: Do not let the mixture remain on your teeth for more than a minute. Otherwise, it may cause damage to your tooth enamel.

About your Des Moines Dentist

If a sleep disorder is taking a toll on your health and relationships, contact Dr. Stephen J. Burds office at 515-442-5659. As a member of the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine, he has extensive experience helping his patients obtain restful sleep via oral appliance therapy. We welcome patients from River Bend, Kirkwood Glen, East Village, and neighboring communities.