All-Natural Teeth-Whitening / Teeth Whitening

Don't Risk Ruining Your Smile - Whiten Your Teeth With These Natural Options

You know what they say: you’re never fully dressed without a smile, right? Your smile is one of the first things people — whether a hot date or a potential employer — see when you introduce yourself. Of course, you want to put your best smile forward. So what do you do if your smile isn’t as pearly white as it could be?

If your teeth aren’t the whitest, don’t feel bad. It’s probably not your fault! Stains can be caused by many things — too many cups of coffee, too much junk food, too much wine — all perfectly normal vices. This kind of surface-level stain to your teeth is called an extrinsic stain and can be removed with a little elbow grease and a few of our favorite products.

If you’re thinking of reaching for those drugstore white stripes, it may be time to think again. Everyone’s done it. Purchased overly-expensive whitening products — be it bleaching strips or whitening toothpaste — with the hopes of getting pearly whites with minimal effort. But have you ever wondered what's actually in those products? Doesn’t putting bleaching products in your mouth seem a little….unhealthy? Well, the bad news is, it is.

Your average off-the-shelf toothpaste contains a few not-so-great chemicals, like Triclosan — a chemical proven to have damaging effects on the immune system. Crest actually took the initiative to remove the chemical from all products in 2014, after animal studies showed that it could cause a disruption in the way hormones function. Fluoride has earned itself a bad rap too — excess amounts of fluoride in products will actually leave patchy white stains on your teeth.

But don’t let that scare you. There are a plethora of products out there designed to help keep plaque at bay while removing any staining from your teeth. There are also products right in your own home that work to whiten your teeth. Don’t believe us? Read on.

What To Ditch

Although there are many products out there we can recommend to remove any current stains, you have to do your part in cutting back on the things that stain your teeth, otherwise, the products won’t work to their full glory.

Coffee: A big part of teeth health is what you put in your body. We probably don’t need to tell you that coffee will only stain your teeth. But we also know that the coffee craving is hard to ignore. Consider adding milk to dilute the staining effect, or keeping a toothpaste in the office so you can give your teeth a good brush immediately after finishing that cup of joe.
Wine: As much as we’re all for a little of wine-fueled R&R at the end of the day, the colors in red wine can cause lots of discoloration on your teeth, and the acids can break down enamel. Cut back your wine consumption, or if that’s too hard for you, switch from red to white.
Cigarettes: Do we even need to tell you why? Nicotine causes little cracks to form in the enamel of your teeth, letting bacteria and other gunk settle in.
Sugary Drinks: Your rye + ginger could be harming your dental health. Sugary beverages, like soda pop and Gatorade, are incredibly acidic, causing rapid tooth decay.

Also, floss! Dentists weren’t kidding about that. Flossing helps remove plaque, which attracts stains to the surface of your teeth. It allows you to take all the plaque out of hard-to-reach places, that may leave irregular stains around the sides of your teeth. Visiting the dentist and brushing on the regular (groundbreaking, right?) will help clear your teeth of bacteria and plaque

With a little TLC and a little patience, you can restore your teeth to their former glory. Without further fanfare, here are our favorite all-natural whitening methods.

Coconut Oil

Coconut oil, while also a great cooking oil, is amazing at detoxifying your mouth — swishing a spoonful of coconut oil around your mouth will not only draw out any toxins that may be lying around, not just in your teeth but in your gums and mouth as well. Just swish for 10 minutes, then spit. Try oil pulling once a week to get used to it, but aim for every day as you get more used to it.
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Not Ready To Go Natural?

Too busy to play chemist in the kitchen? Or are the home remedies not appealing to you? No worries. There are lots of great natural teeth whitening aids that don’t come out of your kitchen counter. Here are some of our favorites.

GoSonic Toothbrush

Related Reading
How To Whiten Your Teeth
Best Teeth Whitening Products
Safest Teeth Whitening Methods

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