Trial and Error: Can turmeric whiten your teeth?

Follow NZH Lifestyle's Trial and Error series where we try out the latest viral trends and beauty hacks so you don't have to.

This was one of NZH Lifestyle's top stories for 2017

What we thought would happen

Beauty bloggers such as Farah D have raved about the benefits of brushing your teeth with turmeric to reveal bright, white teeth.

We wondered, how can the spice that usually stains everything yellow not stain our pearly whites, and come out leaving them glistening? We had to put the hack to the test.

What actually happened

From the moment we put the turmeric goo to our teeth, we realised we had to go all in. The mixture dripped everywhere, our shirts, our faces, everything was covered. We were hot messes. The flavour made us gag and dribble and we couldn't understand how we didn't make it look as easy some beauty gurus make it look.

The verdict

Though our teeth felt very clean and polished, we didn't see a huge difference in their whiteness. Maybe if you tried it a couple of times a week and kept it up over a period of time, as you would with any other whitening routine, you might see results.

*Note: If you do decide to try this for yourself, you're going to need a new toothbrush: Ours were stained yellow.