Back in 1996, there was a commercial with a teacher doing a color exercise with her students and she jovially asked them, “what color are my teeth?” The honest to goodness students replied, respectively, “beige,” “stucco,” “off-white,” and “mother of pearl.” All she, the teacher could muster up was a blank stare (*_*) and an attempt at a bright, not so white smile. As a result, whenever teeth whitening comes to mind, the advertisement automatically replays in my head.
I don’t know about you, but I want white teeth, not mother of pearl or stucco or…you get my drift. Luckily, I’ve always been fortunate ( I believe it was the charcoal grandmother made us use) to have fairly bright teeth. I won’t say white; maybe off-white. I’ve never tried professional teeth whitening services at my dental office but did do the crest white strips a few years ago. The results were pretty impressive. I’d say my teeth were whitened by two to three shades. I remember my dental assistant asking me if I had my teeth professionally whitened, because they appeared, ‘Hollywood white.’
We all want white(r) teeth, but keep in mind, not all stains can be whitened by professionals or over the counter bleaching techniques. Your best bet is to talk with your dental provider. In the meantime, why not try some of these all natural remedies, which will whiten and maintain your teeth’s bright, healthy appearance.
Strawberries: is an all-natural bleaching agent, which contains Vitamin C and an astringent. The vitamin C removes plaque and whiten teeth, while the astringent eliminates stains.
Apples: contains malic acids, which removes surface stains from your teeth. By biting into the apple, the malice acid is deposited over the surface of the teeth, eventually wiping away stains.
Peaches: can rid the mouth of bacteria colonies that cause odor and stains teeth. This sweet and watery fruit stimulates saliva production, which washes away stains and debris.
Raisins: increases saliva production, which in turn removes plaque from the teeth.
Charcoal: This here technique is my favorite, and has been tried and tested by my grandmother and folks of her generation. As a kid she made us do it, and it bloody works. You should know my grandmother is 80 years old and still has all her own teeth and not one cavity. Not one I tell you. Several days per week, she had you grab a piece of coal from her outside oven and scrub, always bing careful not to scrub the gums. After we were finished with the coal for about 30 to 60 seconds, we brushed with toothpaste as normal. I tell you, we all had pretty whitish teeth.
Baking Soda: is a mild abrasive that scrubs away plaque and stains from the teeth’s surface. *lemon and orange, though great bleaching agents can be quite acidic, and actually erode the enamel on the teeth*
Dixie Lincoln- Nichols is a biological science educator, health and wellbeing consultant and Qigong instructor. Her work has been featured in media outlets like, Oprah Mag, SELF, Yahoo and more. She is the founder of Inside Outer Beauty Market, a multi-cultutal retailer curating and creating products to support the body inside and out. Visit the site at www.iobeautymarket.com
