As you grow older, your teeth may have become stained or yellowed. Stains do not affect the function of your teeth, but many people consider them unsightly. Cosmetic dentistry can bleach your teeth or cover them with porcelain veneers, but both are expensive. Over-the-counter tooth-whitening treatments are effective in some cases, and there are home remedies that can also help. One home remedy is the use of orange peels.

Tooth stains

Stains on teeth fall into three categories. Superficial stains on the surface of the teeth are relatively easy to remove with ordinary toothpaste; a more tenacious stain can often be removed with commercial whitening toothpaste. Embedded stains, such as tobacco and coffee stains, have soaked into the teeth over a period of time and usually require a professional tooth-whitening treatment. Structural stains occur during the formation of a tooth and cannot usually be removed, according to the My New Smile website.