Is Baking Soda Good for Your Teeth? What the Dental Research Says

By Irene A. Paragas, MD | Medically reviewed | October 2026 | 10 min read

The most common warning about baking soda is that it is too abrasive and will wear away your enamel.

That warning is backwards.

On the standard scale dentistry uses to measure abrasiveness, baking soda scores around 7. Most ordinary toothpastes sit between 70 and 100. It is one of the gentlest cleaning agents you can put on a tooth.

So the real question is not whether baking soda damages enamel. It is whether it does enough good to be worth using, and what you give up if you use it instead of regular toothpaste.

That second part is where the genuine problem hides, and most articles on this topic miss it entirely.

The Abrasion Myth, Settled

Dentistry measures how abrasive a product is using a scale called RDA, short for relative dentin abrasivity. Higher numbers mean more wear on tooth structure.

A review published in the Journal of the American Dental Association places baking soda at an RDA of around 7.

For context, here is roughly where common products fall.

Read that again. The thing people are warned about is roughly ten times gentler than the toothpaste already in their bathroom.

One nuance worth knowing. Those figures apply to baking soda as a cleaning agent. Patent literature shows that a toothpaste formulated with a high percentage of bicarbonate as its sole abrasive can test considerably higher, because particle size and formulation both affect the result.

Finely ground baking soda is gentler than coarse. The box in your kitchen cupboard is fine.

What the Research Actually Shows

A 2019 systematic review published in the International Journal of Dental Hygiene pooled 21 eligible studies comparing toothbrushing with and without baking soda in healthy adults.

Here is what it found, including the parts that are less flattering.

So the honest summary is that baking soda genuinely cleans better in the moment, and the long-term picture is less certain than the marketing suggests.

Why Baking Soda Works at All

Three mechanisms, and they are more interesting than simple scrubbing.

1. It neutralises acid

This is the most underrated benefit.

Tooth decay is fundamentally an acid problem. Bacteria ferment sugar into acid, acid dissolves the mineral in enamel, and that process begins below a pH of roughly 5.5.

Sodium bicarbonate is alkaline. It raises the pH in your mouth, which shifts conditions away from demineralisation and toward repair.

That is a genuine chemical effect, not a marketing claim.

2. It dissolves rather than only scrubs

Most abrasives in toothpaste are hard, insoluble particles. Baking soda crystals are soft and dissolve in water as you brush.

That is why the RDA is so low. The particles are breaking down during use rather than grinding against enamel for the full two minutes.

3. It disrupts the biofilm

Dental plaque is a structured biofilm, not a loose film. The combination of mild mechanical action and pH change appears to disrupt it more effectively than a standard abrasive alone, which is consistent with the single-brushing results in the systematic review.

The Real Problem: No Fluoride

Here is the issue that matters more than abrasion, and the one most content on this topic gets wrong.

Plain baking soda contains no fluoride.

Fluoride works by incorporating into the enamel surface as it remineralises, forming a compound that is more acid-resistant than the original mineral. It is the most thoroughly evidenced intervention in preventive dentistry, supported by decades of research across populations.

Baking soda does not do this. It changes the environment in your mouth. Fluoride changes the tooth itself.

So if you replace fluoride toothpaste with a box of baking soda, you have traded a well-established cavity-prevention benefit for a modest plaque-removal benefit.

That is a poor trade, and it is the single most important thing to understand here.

Three Sensible Ways to Use It

Ranked from most to least recommended.

Option 1: A fluoride toothpaste containing baking soda

The simplest answer, and the one I would suggest for most people.

You get the acid buffering and plaque benefit of baking soda plus the cavity protection of fluoride, in a formulation that has been tested as a product rather than improvised at the sink.

Look for sodium fluoride or sodium monofluorophosphate on the ingredient list alongside sodium bicarbonate.

Option 2: Fluoride toothpaste daily, baking soda occasionally

Brush normally with fluoride toothpaste twice a day. Once or twice a week, use plain baking soda instead for one of those sessions when you want extra stain lifting.

Dip a damp brush into a small amount, brush gently for two minutes, rinse thoroughly.

Keep it to a couple of times weekly rather than daily, so your fluoride exposure stays consistent.

Option 3: As an occasional rinse

Half a teaspoon dissolved in a glass of warm water, swished and spat out.

This is useful after something acidic, after vomiting, or if you suffer from reflux. It neutralises acid without any brushing at all, which matters because brushing immediately after acid exposure can wear softened enamel.

What Not to Do

These mistakes are common, and two of them genuinely cause damage.

• Do not scrub hard. The benefit comes from the chemistry, not from pressure. Aggressive brushing damages gums and exposes root surfaces, which are far softer than enamel.
• Do not use it as a daily fluoride replacement. This is the trade discussed above.
• Do not use it with braces or orthodontic appliances without asking your orthodontist. It can affect bonding adhesives.
• Do not expect it to whiten beyond surface stains. More on that next.

Does Baking Soda Actually Whiten Teeth?

Partly, and the distinction matters.

There are two kinds of tooth discolouration.

Extrinsic stains sit on the surface, deposited by coffee, tea, red wine and tobacco. Baking soda genuinely lifts these. A systematic review of whitening dentifrices found that brushing with them significantly reduces tooth-surface stain.

Intrinsic discolouration is the natural colour of the dentine underneath your enamel. It darkens with age and cannot be scrubbed. Changing it requires peroxide chemistry, which penetrates the enamel.

So baking soda returns your teeth toward their natural shade by removing what is sitting on top. It will not take them lighter than that.

If your teeth are stained from coffee, you will likely see a difference. If you want a shade whiter than you have ever naturally been, this is not the product.

Who Should Be Careful

• People with receding gums or exposed roots. Root surface is much softer than enamel. Even low-abrasion products need a gentle hand here.
• Anyone on a sodium-restricted diet. Baking soda is roughly 27 percent sodium. Brushing is not swallowing, but if you use it as a rinse, do not swallow it.
• People with braces, retainers or bonded restorations. Check with your dentist or orthodontist first.
• Anyone with persistent sensitivity. Sensitivity has causes worth diagnosing. It is not a brushing problem to solve at home.
• Children. Use a fluoride toothpaste appropriate for their age rather than improvising.

Baking Soda Compared With the Alternatives

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I brush with baking soda every day?

You can, because it is gentle enough. The concern is not abrasion but what you miss. Brushing exclusively with baking soda means no daily fluoride exposure. If you want to use it every day, choose a fluoride toothpaste that contains baking soda rather than the plain powder.

Will baking soda damage my enamel?

Used sensibly, no. Its abrasivity rating of around 7 is far below ordinary toothpaste. Damage comes from scrubbing hard, or from mixing it with acidic ingredients like lemon juice, not from the baking soda itself.

How long before I see whiter teeth?

Surface stain lifting can be visible within one to two weeks of regular use. If nothing has changed after a month, your discolouration is likely intrinsic rather than surface, and no amount of brushing will shift it.

Is baking soda better than my regular toothpaste?

Better at removing plaque in a single brushing, based on the systematic review evidence. Worse at preventing cavities, because it has no fluoride. Those are different jobs, which is why combining them beats choosing between them.

Is the baking soda and lemon juice whitening hack safe?

No, and it is the one thing on this topic worth actively avoiding. Lemon juice has a pH around 2 and dissolves enamel directly. The fizzing neutralisation is incomplete, so you are applying acid and then brushing the softened surface. Enamel does not grow back.

Does baking soda help with bad breath?

It may help somewhat. Many odour-producing oral bacteria prefer acidic conditions, and raising pH makes the environment less favourable to them. It addresses one cause rather than masking the smell.

Can I use it if I have sensitive teeth?

Possibly, since it is low in abrasion, but sensitivity usually indicates exposed dentine, gum recession or a cracked tooth. Get the cause diagnosed rather than experimenting, and consider a desensitising fluoride toothpaste in the meantime.

Does it work for gum disease?

Only modestly. The systematic review found a small reduction in gum bleeding but no significant difference in the gingival index overall. Established gum disease needs professional treatment, not a change of toothpaste.

The Bottom Line

Baking soda is good for your teeth, and the usual warning about it is wrong. At an RDA of around 7, it is gentler than almost anything else you could brush with.

It genuinely removes plaque, the single-brushing evidence is clear, it neutralises the acid that causes decay, and it lifts surface stains.

The real limitation is what it lacks. No fluoride means no cavity protection, and fluoride remains the most strongly evidenced tool in preventive dentistry.

So do not treat this as a choice. Use a fluoride toothpaste that contains baking soda, or keep fluoride as your daily routine and bring in plain baking soda once or twice a week for stain control.

And whatever you do, leave the lemon juice out of it.

References

1. Baking soda as an abrasive in toothpastes – Journal of the American Dental Association.
2. Valkenburg et al. The efficacy of baking soda dentifrice in controlling plaque and gingivitis: a systematic review – International Journal of Dental Hygiene, 2019.
3. The efficacy of baking soda dentifrice in controlling plaque and gingivitis – PMC full text.
4. Effect of baking soda in dentifrices on plaque removal – Journal of the American Dental Association.
5. Stain removal and whitening by baking soda dentifrice: a review of the literature – JADA.
6. Efficacy of dental bleaching with whitening dentifrices: a systematic review – PMC.
7. Effect of active ingredients in dentifrice on inhibiting regrowth of overnight plaque: a systematic review – PMC.
8. National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research – tooth decay.
9. American Dental Association – fluoride, topical and systemic supplements.
10. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – oral health prevention.