Nowadays, a bright smile has become a part of most beauty regimens. With that comes the explosion of teeth whitening concoctions online and whitening products in the market.
Brushing teeth with baking soda and hydrogen peroxide are among the popular DIY whitening methods that you will hear from many influencers online and even written about in lifestyle articles.
Beyond their remarkable bleaching features, the remaining question is if these substances are safe to use on our teeth. As a trusted cosmetic and teeth whitening dentist in Charlotte, Dr. Ramsey with Build-A-Smile will share the safety concerns of using baking soda and hydrogen peroxide on your teeth.
Baking soda and hydrogen as bleaching agents
Baking soda or sodium bicarbonate bleaches our teeth through an oxidative process. It is a substance that forms an alkaline solution when mixed with water. When the alkaline solution gets in contact with our teeth, free radicals from the solution target the stains and begin the bleaching process.
What’s good about brushing with baking soda is it also serves other purposes aside from whitening. It also:
- Help prevent plaque buildup on your teeth that contributes to lower risks of developing tooth decay and gum disease.
- Balances the acidity levels of food residue that helps fight bad breath.
- Speeds up the healing process of mouth ulcers.
On the other hand, hydrogen peroxide or carbamide peroxide begins a chemical process by breaking down the stains and dissolving them through an oxidation process. It ranks as the best tooth whitener due to its bleaching capacity without damaging your teeth and putting your oral health at risk.
Risks of DIY teeth whitening using baking soda and hydrogen peroxide
While baking soda and hydrogen peroxide have several benefits, they can also pose some risks due to excessive use. According to the American Dental Association, going beyond the ideal 3.6% concentration of hydrogen peroxide can be damaging to your teeth.
Baking soda is also mildly abrasive, where excessive use can scratch-off delicate parts of our teeth. Other risks associated with these substances include:
- Gum irritation: The abrasive nature of baking soda and the extreme acidity from hydrogen peroxide solution can irritate and damage the gums. It is the reason why in dental practices, dentists use a protective gel or rubber on the gums to protect them from high concentrations of hydrogen peroxide during a teeth whitening treatment.
- Enamel damage: Our teeth may look and feel sturdy, but they can’t heal themselves. Scratches from aggressive brushing with baking soda can cause small openings on the tooth surface and lead to tooth decay.
Prolonged use of highly-concentrated hydrogen peroxide on your teeth can remove minerals from the tooth enamel, which exposes the dentin and causes extreme tooth sensitivity.
- Affects dental bonding: Restorations on a chipped or a cracked tooth that is fixed with a composite resin or dental bond are not as strong as our actual tooth. They can get easily worn out if scratched with baking soda and become more susceptible to breakage.
- Cause extreme teeth sensitivity: Frequent use of highly-concentrated hydrogen peroxide removes minerals from the tooth enamel and exposes the inner layer of your teeth or dentin.
Though sensitive teeth are a usual after-effect of professional teeth whitening treatments, the level of tooth damage cannot be gauged in DIY whitening since it is not supervised by a dental professional.
Why risk your teeth if you can have a safe whitening treatment at Build-A-Smile?
A DIY teeth whitening gone wrong may lead to irreversible tooth damage. Experience a guided approach to teeth whitening with the help of our dental professionals at Build-A-Smile. We will discuss with you what to expect during your appointment and the dos and don’ts post-treatment.
We use a higher concentration of hydrogen peroxide to bleach deep-seated tooth stains with our Beaming White teeth whitening treatment in Charlotte. Achieve eight up to ten shades of lighter teeth without damaging your teeth by scheduling an appointment now.
