I want to whiten my teeth but I don’t want to wear those trays. I was thinking of using lemon to whiten my teeth. I’ve heard that is a good way to remove stains. Is there a special procedure to do this?
Helen
Dear Helen,
There are countless articles online about ways you can DIY your teeth whitening. I don’t know any of them that are safe. If you are looking for something that you can do over-the-counter, like a whitening kit, I would recommend Crest Whitestrips.
While it does work, it is much weaker than anything you would get from your dentist. However, this is even messier than trays because there is nothing to contain the gel and the strips will slip and slide.
I do not recommend using lemons to whiten your teeth. The main reason for that is because lemon is a citrus fruit. That means it contains citric acid. If you use something containing citric acid on your teeth, it causes damage to the enamel. At first they may look a little whiter because the acid will etch away those stains, but that etching will also take away the protection for your teeth, which means that the teeth will end up looking darker.
Years ago, there was actually an at-home kit that used citrus to whiten teeth. It would start with a slurry to put on the teeth, which did make the teeth look whiter. Soon, however, the patients found their teeth ended up darker. This didn’t last on the market long.
If you are drinking either a citrus drink or a soda (which also contains citric acid), it is important that you rinse out your mouth before brushing your teeth. Otherwise you end up grinding the acid into your enamel.
If you do not want to do at-home whitening with trays, there is an option to get your teeth whitened faster. In fact, you can whiten your teeth in just one appointment with Zoom Whitening. Not all dentists do this procedure, but I feel confident you won’t have trouble finding one.
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