10 Tips for Whiter Teeth

Glendale, Arizona

In Glendale Arizona, just a decade ago people’s teeth weren’t nearly such a bright white. Today’s TV personalities with their perfect, glistening white teeth have set the bar much higher.For those of us hoping to avoid chemical teeth whitening treatments, here are a few tips that may help brighten your smile naturally.


10 Tips For Glendale Teeth Whitening

1. Maintain Good Oral Hygiene.

The most important thing you can do for a beautiful smile is to maintain good oral hygiene. Lack of proper brushing and flossing can leave you with stained teeth and red, swollen gums. Not seeing your dentist regularly can leave you with unsightly cavities or even missing teeth.

2. Use an Electric Toothbrush.

Surface stains result when food, wine, tobacco, etc. becoming embedded in the small nooks and crannies on the exterior surface of the tooth. Most dentists agree that an electric toothbrush is more effective at removing surface stains than a manual toothbrush.

3. Floss daily.

Even if the surface of your teeth is white, stains in between the teeth will ruin your smile. Red swollen gums will also detract from your smile. For extra help in preventing stains in between teeth while also fighting gum disease, try a whitening floss.

4. Use whitening toothpaste.

Whitening toothpastes scrub stains away before they settle in and stain your enamel. Whitening toothpastes may be slightly more abrasive. Toothpastes that contain baking soda are good, but it’s not suggested that you use straight baking soda as it can be overly abrasive and possibly damage teeth. Whitening toothpastes have been clinically tested for safety by the American Dental Association.

5. Avoid highly pigmented foods known to cause staining.

Coffee, berries, soy sauce, and red wine are all known offenders. They seep into tooth enamel leaving it yellow and dingy. Some people claim that sipping coffee or red wine through a straw helps to lessen the staining, by limiting contact with the teeth. After indulging in stain producing food or drink it’s always a good idea to brush as soon as possible.



Tips For A Fantastic Smile | Aesthetic Dentistry of Arrowhead
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6. Try to eat some foods each day that are said to help whiten teeth.

Think crunchy or fibrous foods, like carrots, apples, spinach, and celery. These foods have an abrasiveness that scrubs off stains, just like a mildly abrasive scrub exfoliates your skin. It has also been suggested that eating strawberries may help whiten teeth.

7. Other foods to try: cheese, yogurt and milk.

Studies indicate that finishing off a meal with some cheese may help prevent cavities and help to promote the re-mineralization of tooth enamel. Yogurt and milk are also thought to help promote the re-mineralization of tooth enamel, thus strengthening the teeth.

8. Chew sugar-free gum.

Plaque feeds on regular sugar, but not on the natural sweetener xylitol. Xylitol also increases the production of saliva, which naturally cleans the mouth.

9. Use the right shade of lipstick.

If your teeth tend to be yellow, avoid dark shades of lipstick and those with a warm undertone. Choose instead pinks that have a bluish undertone. Berry shades are usually flattering.

If your teeth have grayish tinges, steer clear of the bluish undertones and try warmer tones instead, like pinks with a brown undertone.

10. Opt for a sunless tanner or a bronzer.

Darker skin makes teeth appear whiter. While too much sun can be dangerous (and cause wrinkles) you can easily achieve a safe tan with a safe sunless tanner or bronzer.

Unfortunately, as we get older our teeth tend to darken, so whiter teeth are not only more attractive, they also give a more youthful appearance. Along with foods, drinks and tobacco use, tooth darkening can also be attributed to aging, medication, trauma, and nerve degeneration.

At Aesthetic Dentistry of Arrowhead Dr. Ceyhan will examine your teeth and gums and then discuss your options with you. Options can be influenced by the cause of your tooth discoloration. Discolored teeth can be caused by stains that affect only the surface of the teeth. These are called extrinsic stains. Intrinsic stains come from inside the teeth and can be more difficult to remove than extrinsic stains.

Options to whiten extrinsically stained teeth include in office or at home teeth whitening. If you choose in office Glendale teeth whitening, the procedure involves covering your lips and gums and then applying a whitening gel to your teeth. Next, a special ultraviolet light is used to activate the gel. In office teeth whitening is a quick and painless procedure that can be accomplished during your lunch hour. You can then head back to work with teeth that are 10 to 12 shades whiter!

If you choose at home whitening, molds will be made of your teeth for you to take home along with a professional grade whitening gel. You will be given instructions for use, and should see a difference in 14 days or less, with full results at the completion of treatment.

Do over the counter whitening kits work? You probably won’t achieve any spectacular results with an over the counter whitening kit since it cannot contain professional strength teeth whiteners. And since they won’t contain trays molded specifically for your teeth they often allow the whitening gel to seep onto gums and irritate them.

Sometimes, when the tooth discoloration is intrinsic, whitening may not be the best option. In these cases Dr. Ceyhan can recommend other cosmetic procedures, such as porcelain veneers or cosmetic crowns.

Teeth whitening is quick, painless, and safe, with gratifying instant results. It will greatly improve your smile and take years off your appearance, making it one of the best investments you can make in yourself.

Dr. Greg Ceyhan of Aesthetic Dentistry of Arrowhead
Dentist
Aesthetic Dentistry of Arrowhead
17100 N 67th Ave, Suite 500
Glendale, Arizona 85308

Phone: (623) 979-1515
Fax: (623) 878-1811
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