Baking Soda for Dental And Oral Health

Research suggests that sodium bicarbonate is a well-studied ingredient in oral care, with a substantial body of laboratory studies and several randomized controlled trials generally supporting its ability to remove extrinsic tooth stains and reduce dental plaque and gingival inflammation. Studies indicate that baking soda-containing toothpastes, chewing gums, and air-polishing powders consistently outperform plain water or non-whitening controls for surface stain removal, and a six-month RCT found that high-concentration baking soda toothpastes also reduced plaque and gum inflammation without causing harmful shifts in oral bacteria. A 2018 narrative review further characterized sodium bicarbonate as low in abrasiveness and largely free of significant side effects compared to some conventional mouth rinses, though it noted its primary dental role is as an adjunct to mechanical cleaning rather than a standalone treatment. Some limitations and nuances are worth noting: most whitening studies are conducted in laboratory settings using extracted or bovine teeth rather than in living patients, one comparative in vitro study found sodium bicarbonate whitening pens to be among the least effective over-the-counter options tested, and a mixed-findings study observed that while baking soda did produce measurable color change, so did several other home remedies, with commercial bleaching gels generally producing greater overall whitening — suggesting that baking soda's stain-removal benefits are real but modest compared to peroxide-based professional treatments.