While baking soda might work well for natural teeth, we don’t advise you to use it to whiten your veneers.
You can find baking soda really easily in NTUC, Cold Storage and other supermarkets. Unlike what its name suggests, baking soda has many purposes outside of baking! As an abrasive, you can use it to clean your toaster, bathroom and sinks that have stubborn stains.
However, the level of abrasion is too intense for a material like composites and porcelain dental veneers.
What is Baking Soda?
Baking soda, or sodium bicarbonate, is a weak alkali powder known for its abrasive properties. If you go online, you can find people advocating for use in dental care because it can effectively remove surface stains from natural teeth.
However, its abrasiveness poses a significant downside. Prolonged use of baking soda can lead to scratches on the enamel of natural teeth, exacerbating staining issues.
Furthermore, baking soda lacks the ability to whiten deep stains, a task that professional chairside treatments handle more effectively.
Baking Soda And Abrasives Don’t Do Well With Dental Veneers
Dental veneers, unlike natural teeth, are not porous. They require specific care to maintain their appearance.
Whitening toothpastes and over-the-counter teeth whitening kits are designed for natural teeth and their ability to absorb substances. Baking soda, being a harsh abrasive, is intended for removing tough stains and grime from surfaces like kitchen counters and bathroom tiles.
When used on veneers, baking soda can wear down a veneer’s surface quickly and potentially damage the dental cement that secures the veneer to the natural tooth.
Ideal Care for Dental Veneers
To ensure the longevity and brightness of dental veneers, you should use a gentle toothpaste that does not contain harsh abrasives. Additionally, avoiding staining foods and drinks such as tea, curry, and coffee can help prevent discolouration.
If consuming these foods, it’s advisable to use a straw and rinse your mouth with water immediately afterwards.
How to Whiten Dental Veneers
You can’t whiten dental veneers. Hence its important to have the veneer colour done right before its done/placed on. As part of the smile makeover with ceramic veneers, we emphasise on colour selection and get our patient to trial with different veneer colour.
The cement has a role to play and without going into too much detail, light cure resin cement colour is more stable compared to dual cure resin cement. We follow dental development and advances to keep ourselves up to date.
Bonus: Baking Soda as Mouthwash?
While baking soda is not suitable for whitening veneers, it does have one acceptable use in oral care.
A small amount of baking soda (about one teaspoon) mixed with tap water can serve as an effective mouthwash. Its alkaline properties help neutralise the acidic environment in the mouth, thereby preventing tooth decay. Take note that this is just a supplement to regular brushing and flossing and not a replacement. But as a busy Singaporean, you might want to consider buying a ready-made mouthwash instead. We recommend choosing a Xylitol-based mouthwash because of its ability to prevent decay.