Will Lemon Peels Whiten My Teeth?

I read something that said rubbing lemon essential oils on my teeth or even just lemon peels would help to whiten my teeth, but my sister thinks it is a bad idea because it could damage my teeth. I love my sister but she is sort of a know-it-all. However, I don’t want to ignore her if she is right. So…am I going to have to admit to my sister that she is right or do I have something one up on her finally?

Harriet

Dear Harriet,

I am glad you wrote. So, I don’t know if you will consider this good news, but your sister is right. It is a bad idea to try to whiten your teeth with lemons. As a citrus fruit, it contains citric acid. This will etch the enamel. While that will temporarily make them look a bit whiter, the etching will cause your teeth to pick up stains more quickly. In the long run, it is a bad idea.

DIY is not the best way to go. If you are looking for something over the counter, then I would recommend Crest Whitestrips. They do work but there are some things to consider. First, it will only cover the front six teeth. Most smiles are eight to ten teeth wide. This means you will have to double up on the number of strips you use.

A second issue is that the strength of the whitening is only a fraction of what you would get with your dentist. This also translates to having to use more strips to get the same amount of results. To give you an idea of what I mean, professional teeth whitening is usually about a 33% concentration of the whitening ingredient. Crest Whitestrips is about 6%. I am not trying to discourage you from getting them. I just want you to be realistic about what you’ll get out of the purchase.

If cost is the only reason you are trying to go DIY, I might suggest talking to your dentist and asking if he would allow you to make payments so you can get your teeth whitened under a dentist’s supervision.

This blog is brought to you by Moline Dentist Dr. Goebel.