Whitening teeth at home, does it really work?
From coconut oil to charcoal powder or baking soda, Vogue gives you the whole truth about how to get white teeth without leaving home .Forgun Oral Care Wooden Rainbow Bamboo Soft Bristle Toothbrush Dental Oral Care Adults
"The eyes may be the mirror of the soul, but the mouth is the first thing people see" or so said Dr. Irwin Smigel (the American dentist who bleached Elizabeth Taylor's smile) to the New York Magazine in 1981. Although he developed laser teeth whitening and the use of cosmetic coatings in the 70s, tooth whitening actually dates back to 4000 years ago, in the time of Cleopatra when wealthy Egyptians boasted about beauty and status through their teeth bleached with a paste of pumice stone and white vinegar . With a little less glamor, the Romans used urine, which contains ammonia, a natural whitening agent.
Nowadays, mass marketing to get white and bright smiles has turned our bedrooms into dental laboratories, filling it with home bleaching products such as activated carbon powders, topical application products, dentifrices designed by dentists, and holistic practices with oil of coconut
But is it really possible to get a gleaming white smile while surfing Netflix ? Vogue gets to the bottom of the issue of home tooth whitening.
How to whiten your teeth naturally
"Clean the teeth gently with a mixture of honey and black salt to which add a little vinegar, " advised the influential French surgeon Guy de Chauliac back in the fourteenth century. Today, while a new guard of whitening systems with new technologies complete with LED lights and heat causes a sensation, there is still space for the most economical option that natural whitening supposes. At this time there are four homemade techniques causing sensation, one of which is activated carbon powder. But can brushing your teeth with a black powder make the yellow of your teeth turn white? The theory is that carbon gets rid of the stains of your teeth through a process called "absorption". The fine black powder, a mixture of charred bones, olive bones, charcoal, sawdust and coconut husk is "activated" by processing it with intense heat and the internal structure is thus made more porous than ordinary charcoal. There is no science to confirm that this will magically whiten your teeth, but its effectiveness is proven when it comes to absorbing plaque and other components that stain the teeth, creating the appearance of a whiter smile.
How to whiten your teeth at home (with some help from your dentist)
But let's move on to the seventeenth century, when the barbers filed the teeth and applied an acid to whiten it while eroding its enamel. Today's dentists use the powerful hydrogen peroxide for instant bleaching, but the treatment can be expensive. "It is effective but the results vary from patient to patient and it is difficult to determine what the result will be ," says Dr. Penelope Hall, a British dentist based in Singapore. It is also painful for many people, although the pain usually only lasts a couple of days. "Patients often end up opting for whitening splints to get home and maintain it, so it ends up being even more expensive." Dr. Hall believes that the best whitening method is to combine a store-bought whitening kit , such as Opalescence's 35% carbamide peroxide with a custom splint created by your dentist. "The great advantage of splints prescribed by dentists for home use is that patients can periodically increase their whitening by simply buying a new syringe of bleaching gel." These homemade splints use lower levels of peroxide than those of the dentist, so they need to be used more regularly.
Does teeth whiten coconut oil?
Another rumor of home remedies for tooth whitening is coconut oil rinsing - a 3000-year-old Ayurvedic practice of rinsing with a tablespoon of coconut oil about 20 minutes a day. It is said that the oil goes through the plate, which, after a while, will whiten the teeth. Although you can optimize mental health by cleaning the teeth and gums of bacteria, there is little evidence that you really bleach your teeth. "A lot of people say that it whitens teeth, but there's nothing to prove it," says Ayurvedic expert Eminé Avi Rushton, author of The Body Balance Diet Plan. "I rinse myself with coconut oil to clean my mouth, gums and teeth and eliminate toxins, I also know that coconut and coconut toothpaste leaves my teeth looking brighter, as it is a soft and deep cleansing abrasive, the teeth tends to look whiter after application, but that of coconut oil alone is a little misleading. "
Will your bicarbonate whiten your teeth?
"Sodium bicarbonate is great for removing stains but it can be abrasive," says Dr. Hall. "It does not whiten the enamel physically, it just makes the teeth look whiter because it removes plaque and stains." And therein lies the problem. Most home bleaching treatments are, in reality, simple stain removers. Although superficial stains come from caffeine, wine, cola and some medications, it is often possible to prevent their entry appearance.
How to prevent the appearance of spots on your teeth?
Unfortunately, the discoloration of the teeth is usually due to the charming habit of consuming caffeine and Cabernet, so getting rid of these guilty of creating stains on the teeth (along with cigars and smoothies with berries) is key at the time of tune your pearl teeth.
The production of saliva is crucial at the time of destroying the yellowish plate. The time of the day when it is most important for you to brush your teeth for two minutes is just before you go to bed. During the day we swallow 2000 times, but while we sleep we can do it only 20 times and our mouths dry. Nutritionist Natasha Corrett recommends eating crunchy foods such as apples, nuts and seeds, cauliflower and broccoli, as the action of chewing stimulates the production of saliva.
But all the effects of dental whitening treatments are temporary (even whitening strips, which whiten the part of the teeth just above the gums) and therefore tea, coffee, tobacco, wine and cola will stain them again. Avoid drinking rich things (!) And continue using whitening toothpaste to prevent future discoloration.