A few days ago, I realized that my love for coffee was quickly having some unintended consequences: coffee teeth. There are a few things that I committed to never let happen in my life:
- I will never buy a Nickelback CD
- I will never watch the second Twilight
- Coffee teeth are unacceptable.
I brush my teeth twice/day, but coffee often comes after brushing so I was fighting a losing battle. After my crisis, it was time for some investigation. My budget was $1. What I discovered were two very simple options for whitening your teeth cheaply:
- Baking Soda
- Hydrogen Peroxide
Allow me to break down the options. (Warning: they both taste awful.)
Baking Soda
Baking Soda is wonderful. You can clean your teeth, deodorize your fridge, put out fires and kill weeds. Only duct tape can claim that kind of versatility. Use it for mouthwash by combining the following ingredients:
- 1 tsp. of salt
- 1 tsp. of baking soda
- 1/2 cup of water
Benefits: Whitens teeth
Drawbacks: Feels gritty, and that is a relatively involved recipe.
Hydrogen Peroxide
On the other hand is Hydrogen Peroxide. It has a pretty negative reputation from childhood. Remember when you used it to disinfect scrapes? Your mom said: “this won’t hurt” which actually meant: “I hope you don’t scream.” Bad reputation aside, this stuff works. I personally use it every morning. You should use 3% concentration, and cut it with water like this:
- 1 cap full of water
- 1 cap full of Hydrogen Peroxide
Benefits: Whitens teeth, disinfects mouth, restores gums, heals canker sores.
Drawbacks: The aftertaste is abysmal.
By using Hydrogen Peroxide, I noticed whiter teeth after 4 days. By the way it’s possible that it can loosen fillings in your mouth. It hasn’t for me though. After 1 week of daily use, I’m cutting back to every-other-day. Once you get used to the horrible fizzing taste, it isn’t so bad.
Naturally, I’m not an expert in teeth-whitening and YMMV. But I’m all for whiter teeth without paying for expensive whitening.
What do you use for teeth whitening?
Photos
Girl: modenadude via photo pin cc
Peroxide: jypsygen via photo pin cc
