Fact Check: Mixture of banana skin extract, sugar, lemons can damage teeth, not whiten it
Brushing the teeth with banana skin extract, sugar and lemon can cause dental caries and enamel softening resulting in tooth loss
By Neelambaran A Published on 20 Sep 2024 10:55 AM GMT
Claim: The mixture of banana skin pulp, sugar and lemon juice can whiten yellowish teeth.
Fact: The claim is false. Continuous use of the mixture can result in tooth decay and erosion of enamel, resulting in tooth loss.
A video on Instagram claims that brushing teeth with a mixture of banana skin extract, sugar, lemon juice and toothpaste can help whiten yellowish teeth.
Fact Check
Newsmeter found that the claim is false.
With high sugar content, banana skin extract and sugar can end up damaging the teeth and affect the gum and not helping whiten the teeth as claimed in the video.
Dr Prathyusha Potharaju, senior consultant and dental surgeon, Care Hospitals, Hitech City branch said, āThe first two ingredients suggested in the video are banana and sugar. These are very sugary substances and would cause a lot of dental caries in the long run.ā
Bananas contain 5.8 per cent sucrose, 3.8 per cent glucose, and 6.6 per cent fructose, and these three types of sugar have higher hygroscopicity than lactose and maltose (Davis 1995). The ripe banana peels also contain high amounts of dissolved sugars such as glucose and fructose.
Hence, even in normal situations, given the higher sugar content in bananas, the doctors suggest everyone rinse and gargle after consuming bananas.
āThe citrus nature of the lemon does not have any effect on the enamel. This can even damage the sensitivity of the enamel when used continuously,ā Dr Prathyusha said.
In addition to lemons, oranges, lime and grapefruits contain sugar and acidic components. The enamel, despite being the hardest material in the human body, could soften and erode, resulting in tooth decay and loss.
