Fourteen days, that’s all the time you need to lighten the shade of your teeth using a same product your mom uses to clean tough stains on her porcelain and glass house wares — the baking soda. All that you have to do is to make your own version of a whitening tooth paste using baking soda and carbamide peroxide solution and you are ready to go. This article will teach you how to make your own baking-soda/carbamide peroxide toothpaste. Just read through.
What You Need:
1. 3% or 10% Carbamide Peroxide Solution – This solution is available for sale in any drug store and it can be bought even without prescription; you just have to be over 16 before you are tendered this product. Carbamide Peroxide is available in 4% or 10% solution, but you can dilute a 10% solution with purified water to make 5% or 8% concentrations. However, it is most advisable for you to use a 3% solution if this is your first time because your gums may react harshly to a Carbamide Peroxide solution of any concentration higher than 3%. If you have already gauged how much your teeth react to the chemical, you may be able to opt for a higher concentration.
2. Baking soda – You can buy a tin or pack of baking soda in most groceries.
3. Mixing Bowl
4. Spoon or mixing stick
5. Mint-flavored toothpaste (optional)
What You Have to Do:
1. Put about 25mL of Carbamide Peroxide in a small mixing bowl. The solution is also sold in 5mL and 10mL bottles, you may also use this much Carbamide Peroxide if you want.
2. Slowly add baking soda into the mixing bowl while stirring. Make sure that you add it little by little so that you will be able to check the consistency of the mixture you are making. The consistency should be similar to white glue.
3. Add a little amount of your favorite mint-flavored tooth paste into the mixture in order to give your home-made toothpaste a little taste. You may not do the third step but I suggest that you do if you want to keep the taste of baking soda from sticking on your tongue.
4. Store your mixture in a small bottle with lid. Keep the bottle tightly closed and place the bottle in a cool place.
How to Use Your Carbamide Peroxide/Baking Soda Toothpaste?
All you have to do is dip your toothbrush into your “tooth paste bottle”, just make sure that all the bristles of your toothbrush are completely covered by the mixture. Brush your teeth as you would with regular toothpastes. Brush for at least two minutes but you should not use the mixture as toothpaste substitute more than twice in a week. Excessive usage of the mixture might lead to gum problems and other teeth related issues. Always remember too that you should not shallow the mixture because baking soda ingestion can be harmful to your health. For added benefits, you may rinse your mouth with a 3% Carbamide Peroxide solution.
Be reminded that you will definitely feel a burning or tingling sensation due to the reaction of your mouth to the chemicals you are using. This is normal and the sensations usually wear off after a couple of minutes, but if you can’t handle t sensation that long, you may simply rinse your mouth with water over and over. Eventually, all the chemicals left in your mouth will be washed away, along with the burning feeling.
Alternatives and Tips
- Instead of mixing home-made toothpaste, you may use pure baking soda directly. The results will not be as good as the Carbamide Peroxide/Baking Soda mixture, but your will still get good ones. Just dip your toothbrush to baking soda and brush as you would with ordinary toothpaste.
- Another alternative is to wet your toothbrush bristles with hydrogen peroxide or carbamide peroxide solution and then dip the wet toothbrush into baking soda. The resulting mix is close to the home-made toothpaste discussed above.
- If Hydrogen peroxide or Carbamide peroxide is not available, you may use lime juice as substitute. Use lime juice in making the baking soda tooth paste.
