I decided a few weeks back that I wanted whiter teeth. I don’t
think I have particularity nice looking teeth, I was lucky enough to have
braces when I was growing up, so although they are really large, at least they are
straight. Anyway I think having braces contributed to the discoloration of my
teeth, well that my love for tea and coffee.
I ordered a teeth whitening kit a few weeks ago – and fingers
crossed it arrives soon. In the meantime I did what any other novice teeth whitener
wannabe person does... looked on YouTube. I’m finding it hard to remember my
life without YouTube actually... I had no idea there were so many different
choices. I chose 2 of the less extreme options though... while strawberries on
my teeth sounded great... I think I prefer them with chocolate and cream.
The first option I did was the Bicarbonate (bicarb) of soda
and lemon juice. For those that don’t know how to do it, here’s what I did
(Sorry I did not take pictures for this one).
Firstly I flossed my teeth, then I took about 2 tsp of
bicarbonate of soda, and mixed it with a few drops of lemon juice (I believe you
can use lime juice as well) until it made paste. Some you tubers said to
make it runnier, but I stuck with the paste. Once it was a paste, I stuck it
on a toothbrush (I bought a new tooth brush just for this), and gave my teeth a good brush, and then rinsed.
My gums bled after doing this (I don’t think that is
supposed to happen), but my teeth felt really clean, I think they looked a bit
whiter, but there was not drastic change after doing it just once. You apparently
need to do it for at least as week and then drop back to twice weekly, as the bicarb
is abrasive and will eat away at your tooth enamel – as well as the fact that
lemon is acidic...
I have only done this twice, and would probably continue
doing it once a week – if not got the teeth whitening, but for the great way it
leaves my teeth.
The second option was to use activated charcoal. Until I
watched the tutorial on YouTube, I had no idea that there was such a thing as
activated charcoal. I found it in New Zealand, and thought okay – lets give
this one a go. (Here are the not so nice pictures)...
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| Activated charcoal |
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| Before |
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| With Charcoal on |
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| After |
The tutorial said to take 2 to 3 capsules and mix them with
some water too make a watery mixture. You then pour this into you mouth and
swirl it around to cover your teeth, then spit out and leave the excess on your
teeth for 3-5 minutes.
I found that when I spat out the mixture, there was not
a lot left on my teeth, so I opened up another capsule and made a paste and
stuck that on my front teeth.
Trying to keep your mouth open for 3-5 minutes
without swallowing, or dribbling is not easy. Anyway I persevered, and as you
can see, the end result was rather disappointing. I cant see any change what so
ever. Again you can do this everyday as activated charcoal is not abrasive,
and wont harm your teeth in anyway, but all the other tutorials I watched
noticed changes in their teeth colour straight away. This process was really
messy, I don’t think I want too put myself through it again.
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