DIY toothpaste with baking soda hydrogen peroxide

Put a tiny bit of toothpaste into a small cup, mix in one teaspoon baking soda plus one teaspoon of hydrogen peroxide, and half a teaspoon water.

Thoroughly mix then brush your teeth for two minutes. Remember to do it once a week until you have reached the results you want.

Once your teeth are good and white, limit yourself to using the whitening treatment once every month or two.

Note:

Here’s what you need to know: Most hydrogen peroxide bottles you can buy at a drug store or grocery store are diluted to around 3 percent. The amount of hydrogen peroxide in commercial whitening treatments varies and can be as much as 10 percent in some products.

But scientific studies suggest dilution is a good thing when it comes to using hydrogen peroxide for teeth whitening; concentrations that are too strong can damage the enamel, or outer coating, of your teeth.

In one study, scientists applied diluted hydrogen peroxide solutions of 10, 20, and 30 percent to human teeth that had been extracted for varying amounts of time. They found that higher concentration solutions caused more damage to teeth, as did keeping the teeth in contact with hydrogen peroxide for a longer amount of time. This suggests that low-concentration treatments of hydrogen peroxide, applied for shorter periods of time, have the least potential to damage your teeth.

According to another study, scientists found that a 5 percent hydrogen peroxide solution was just as effective as a 25 percent solution at whitening teeth. But to achieve the same level of whiteness, one would need to whiten teeth with the 5 percent solution 12 times to get the same level of whitening as one time with the 25 percent solution.

This means if you’re using short, low-concentration treatments, you’ll have to perform more treatments in order to achieve your desired whiteness.