Does turmeric stain your teeth
Posted by Wen Dan Jiang on
Does turmeric stain your teeth?
Does turmeric stain your teeth? Yes, turmeric does leave stains on your teeth as it is filled with powerful carotenoids – pigments containing ProVitamin A. Turmeric leaves stains on almost everything that gets in contact with it. However, you will still see people applying turmeric over their skin and teeth to get cleaner, sparkling skin, and whitened teeth. Merely speaking, turmeric remains an effective home remedy for whitening teeth despite it temporarily leaving a stain on the teeth.
How to use turmeric as a remedy for teeth whitening?
You can use turmeric in a home remedy for getting whiter, brighter teeth. All you need to do is to follow these steps:
- Take raw and pure turmeric powder with no added ingredients and sprinkle some over your toothbrush (you can get a separate toothbrush if you don’t like your original toothpaste getting stained)
- Now, gently rub your toothbrush bristles all over your teeth, and gums like you would use toothpaste in your daily routine
- Let the turmeric set on your teeth for five minutes after you have rubbed your teeth, and don’t rinse it away right after you rub it
- Rinse your mouth with water thoroughly, making sure all the turmeric goes out with the water, and none remains inside your oral cavity.
How to remove the turmeric stain?
Once you have rinsed your mouth, you must apply regular toothpaste to your toothbrush and rub your teeth and jaw with it again. As you continue to rub your teeth with the toothpaste, you will notice your teeth stain getting lighter after a few rinses and finally vanishing. You might repeat the process several times in case your oral health is already compromised. This is because, in these people, the dental enamel has more plaque over it that produces a sticky effect and attracts stain producing pigments.
Why use turmeric as a teeth whitener?
If the question stands positive, does turmeric stain your teeth? Then you might be thinking, why even bother to use it in our home remedy to whiten our teeth. There must be something strong enough that makes this root so popular ingredient for getting whiter teeth despite its property to leave a temporary stain.
The answer is Antioxidants. Yes, turmeric contains many antioxidants and active anti-inflammatory compounds in it in fighting off bacterial plaque that causes teeth to become pale and even yellow with time. This yellowing of teeth due to plaque accumulation does make us shy to smile with our teeth, not only open but also highly affects our confidence. Therefore, it is highly important to regain that confidence by following important steps to whiten our teeth. Although there are many procedures for getting our teeth whitened, most of them are highly expensive and temporary. Therefore they are not cost-effective.
An effective thing to do in this regard is to try home remedies and see if it works. The antioxidants present in the turmeric help fight against plaque and bacteria that cause the teeth to look yellow. You can feel its strong anti-bacterial presence with its sharp flavor and the tingling sensation it leaves on the tongue even when you rinse your oral cavity with water. This is a way of the root telling you that its active ingredients are fighting the bacterial population in your teeth and gums, giving you cleaner, brighter, and much fresher looking jaws and teeth.
Not only that, turmeric, with its high anti-bacterial properties, is equally effective in fighting bad breath and inflammatory conditions such as gingivitis. You will feel with regular use, your swollen gums or bleeding gums will heal as your mouth is no more filled with infectious bacteria.
Other teeth whitening remedies
While turmeric is an effective agent for teeth cleaning and teeth whitening, the question “Does turmeric stain your teeth?” is not completely answered until its teeth whitening properties are not compared to other agents. Let’s have a look at some of the agents for teeth whitening home remedies and their comparison with using turmeric.
- Baking soda
Baking soda is another home remedy purposed for naturally whitening teeth in an easy and cost-effective way. In the technique, you are required to dilute some quantity of the ingredient in water and rinse your mouth with it several times. Another point is to apply the baking soda directly on your teeth with its paste mixed in a little water and rub. While the remedy is popular, the health risks pertaining to using an ingredient as strong as a baking soda are not evasive. Baking soda is highly basic in pH and can damage the natural epithelium of the oral cavity if applied for a long time. Moreover, if digested, it can cause harshness in the throat. It’s always better not to take risks with such ingredients and use natural ingredients instead of home remedies, such as turmeric.
Apple cider vinegar is also recommended by some people who claim the ingredient is effective for teeth whitening. They recommend using a diluted solution to rinse or dipping a cotton pad or a q-tip in a concentrated solution of apple cider vinegar and apply it carefully to the yellowed teeth before rinsing it off. Although it is presented as an easy home remedy to get brighter teeth, there are multiple risks.
Firstly, the highly acidic pH can disturb the lining of the inner oral cavity and damage the gums, especially in people with sensitive gums. Secondly, the apple cider vinegar should not be consumed in a concentrated amount as it might cause acidity if accidentally ingested in large amounts. Going for a natural ingredient that is quick to work and does not impose any health risk is always a better option. Turmeric is a better example in the list of ingredients that are good for brighter and whiter teeth.
- Hydrogen peroxide
Hydrogen peroxide is considered as a bleaching agent and used for various bleaching purposes including teeth whitening. However, hydrogen peroxide is an active chemical ingredient that must be consumed with a lot of care. If accidentally consumed in high amounts, it can cause gum problems, bleeding, and even cancer on persistent use. Moreover, you will need to take a lot of care for the number of times you include the home remedy for teeth whitening purposes as too much of it can cause your teeth enamel to wash away. If you want to save yourself from such risks associated with using an ingredient for teeth whitening, you should stick with ingredients that come straight from nature, such as lemon juice or turmeric.
Benefits of using turmeric over other products
Now that we have seen some of the ingredients used in home remedies to get a brighter, whiter smile, we think it has become pretty much obvious why choosing natural ingredients with minimum risks involved is the best way to go.
Therefore, we recommend using a natural ingredient over these aforementioned ones is a wiser choice. We’ve enlisted key benefits extracted for using turmeric over other products as under:
- No complicated method of preparation
Hydrogen peroxide, apple cider vinegar, and ingredients like baking soda come with many precautions, and you have to take a lot of care for using them the right way, for example, setting the ingredient to water ratio. There is no such fuss involved with a product as natural as turmeric, as you just have to take the product straight out of the container and apply it to your teeth.
- No risk of toxicity involved
Also, there is no hazard associated with accidental consumption. After all, it is a food-based ingredient that has its usage in a lot of eastern recipes for its antibiotic and anti-inflammatory properties.
- Easy application
You can choose to apply the product on your teeth in whichever way you want. There are no specifications involved with it – another thing not common while using other ingredients where you have to take note of multiple factors given their potential risks associated with overuse.
In a nutshell, we see that turmeric‘s ease of use and the way it saves so much of your time with no precautions associated with its preparation, all root from the fact that it is a food-based product. Although there are other food-based products available too for the same purposes, such as lemon juice, overconsumption risks are seen minimum while using turmeric. So, many people have been choosing to pick turmeric over other ingredients for teeth whitening.
Final word
Many people might think they should not pick turmeric as an ingredient for teeth whitening remedy due to its staining property. The fact that the stains can be easily removed and the ingredient comes with zero toxic risks outweighs the other choices easily. Remember to properly rinse your oral cavity several times as you apply it and wash it off under the sink. If you do not have time to remove the ingredient's yellow pigmentation by rinsing multiple times, try doing this remedy at night before you sleep instead of doing it in the day time.
References
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11225528/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24839821/
https://www.hindawi.com/journals/jfq/2017/8471785/
http://resources.omniwellness.in/control/pdf_bp/Curcumin-Free-Turmeric-B.Agrwal-1529.pdf