Perfectly Polished: 5 Natural ways to whiten your teeth

Dione Chen

13 May 2016

updated the Friday, May 13, 2016

1/5
Lemon Juice
What you'll need:
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp baking soda
Mix together until a paste forms. Brush onto your teeth with a toothbrush. Leave on for 1 minute. Rinse with water.
Baking soda gently scrubs away teeth stains to return it to a whiter shade, while lemon juice acts as a natural bleach, making them excellent ingredients for teeth whitening.
2/5
Strawberries
What you'll need:
- 3 large strawberries
- A pinch of sea salt
Mash the strawberries into a pulp. Mix in the sea salt. Brush onto your teeth with a toothbrush and leave on for 5 minutes. Rinse off with water.
Strawberries contain Vitamin C and malic acid that will help break down plaque, while sea salt is used here simply as an abrasive to remove surface stains on the teeth.
3/5
Coconut Oil
What you'll need:
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
Swish the coconut oil around your mouth for 10 minutes. Rinse off with water and brush your teeth after.
Also known as 'oil pulling', this traditional method is one that many people swear by to keep teeth white. Lauric acid in coconut oil gets rid of bacteria found in plaque, keeping your teeth and gums healthy and your breath fresh.
4/5
Charcoal
What you'll need:
- 1 tsp activated charcoal (from a food/medical grade source)
Mix the charcoal powder with some water and swish the mixture in your mouth for a few minutes. Spit out the water and leave the charcoal in your mouth for another 2-3 minutes. Rinse off with water.
Activated charcoal absorbs and binds to teeth stains, and helps to kill bad bacteria present in tooth decay. The process may look ugly, but the results will be worth it.
5/5
Turmeric
What you'll need:
- 1/8 tsp turmeric powder
Wet your toothbrush and dip it in the turmeric powder. Brush your teeth with the powder and leave on for 3-5 minutes. Rinse off with water and brush your teeth again with your normal toothpaste.
Although turmeric is known to stain just about everything yellow, it works surprisingly well in whitening teeth.

You’ll be glad to know that you can whiten your teeth with natural ingredients found in your very own kitchen.

Nowadays, we tend to be so focused on how we look on the outside, that we often neglect what’s on the inside. By “inside” we mean what’s in our mouths. Simply flossing and brushing our teeth twice a day are good and healthy habits that we should have already adopted, but they are not enough if you want strong and beautiful teeth. The types of food we eat are the main culprits of enamel staining and breakdown, so it is imperative that we take care of our teeth both in terms of whitening and strengthening.

Since the care of your teeth should be done on a weekly basis, it will be a relief to know that there are inexpensive methods of doing this that don’t necessarily warrant a trip down to the dentist or buying chemically-infused teeth whiteners from the pharmacy.

Browse through our gallery slides above to learn which natural ingredients do the job of taking care of your teeth for you.

Dione Chen

Photos: Getty Images

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