Brighten Your Smile With Baking Soda Toothpaste

If you have yearned for a brighter smile, you might have considered using a toothpaste containing sodium bicarbonate or baking soda to whiten your teeth. Tooth whitening is the process of changing the teeth’s color and can include bleaching and use of abrasive material such as baking soda to achieve a whiter appearance.

Types of teeth stains

Tooth discoloration caused by stains can be intrinsic, extrinsic, or both. Intrinsic stains can occur on all of your teeth or just a single tooth caused by aging, tooth defect, or tooth disease. In contrast, extrinsic stains are commonly caused by foods and drinks such as coffee, tea, soda, or by using tobacco. These types of extrinsic stains are localized on the surface and discoloring the tooth by forming a thin film that cannot be removed by toothbrush and water. The primary role of baking soda in toothpaste as an additive is to mechanically breakdown this thin surface film that causes discoloration when brushing. Baking soda in toothpaste improves dental cleaning and whitening. In high concentrations, baking soda possesses antimicrobial activity.

Baking soda is a gentle tooth whitening abrasive

Toothpaste can be formulated with a variety of abrasive materials to polish and remove surface teeth stains. Toothpaste manufacturers can formulate toothpaste with different types of dental abrasive materials. Some common abrasive toothpaste materials are hydrated silica, calcium carbonate, diamond powder, or baking soda. Material that is too abrasive can hurt the enamel of your teeth leading to excessive wear. Ideally, abrasives should be gentle but rough enough to remove plaque and stains on the surface of your tooth. The abrasive should also not interact with other chemicals that make up the toothpaste. Baking soda is one of the most popular additives in toothpaste because it is the least abrasive material and works wonder at removing surface stains. This property allows manufacturers to add very high concentrations of baking soda to toothpaste.

Baking soda is considered to be a safe option to clean and whiten teeth. Baking soda is a gentle abrasive effective in removing surface stains and whitening teeth. The amounts of baking soda in toothpaste bears no toxicity concerns and is generally recognized as safe by the US Food and Drug Administration.

For additional options for a brighter smile, call (800) 407-0161 to set an appointment and visit your dentist at California Dental Group for teeth whitening recommendations to achieve a radiant smile.