When making a good first impression, you smile. Who doesn’t want to see a nice smile and whiter teeth upon greeting or when they look in the mirror? The problem is, our teeth have a habit of yellowing, whether due to age or diet. Certain foods and drinks can stain your teeth or wear away at the shiny white enamel. Luckily, there are tons of things you can do to get back your brilliant white teeth.
But here’s a tip: The better care you take of your teeth, the whiter they’ll be. Make sure to brush and floss often. You might even want to brush after every meal to help avoid staining. Try to limit the foods and drinks that are most likely to stain your teeth like coffee, tea, and fruit and fruit juice. A lot of sport drinks are also known to be very damaging to teeth. It takes less effort and cost to prevent yellowing than it does to try whitening.
But you can’t always help it so here are some natural remedies you can make at home:
Lemon and Orange Peels.
Rub some lemon or orange peels on your teeth every few days. However, these fruits have been known to have a fair amount of acid that can wear away at your teeth, so it’s a good idea to rinse your mouth pretty thoroughly after.
Baking Soda Pastes.
There are more than one. You can make a paste with baking soda and hydrogen peroxide or lemon juice. The baking soda will help to neutralize the acids that could harm your enamel and the paste will help to scrub away stains. When making the paste, you want to be sure it isn’t gritty. A gritty paste can damage your enamel which may eventually leave your teeth looking a little blue. You can brush this paste on using your toothbrush, leave it for about a minute and then rinse your mouth.
Coconut Oil.
Coconut oil can be applied in several different ways but is known to whiten your teeth. You can put a few drops on your toothbrush or you can do a rinse. Swish a fair amount of coconut oil thoroughly around your mouth for about 10 minutes. This is also a good idea because coconut oil is very healthy for your gums.
Strawberries.
There are multiple ways to use this as well. You can simply mash up some strawberries and brush the paste around your mouth or you can mix strawberries, salt, and baking soda into a paste. The strawberry can help to eliminate plaque, the salt helps scrub, and the baking soda helps reduce acidity.
Other options you have are…
Whitening toothpastes and rinses.
These are a good option if you have minimal staining on your teeth. The whitening gel in the toothpaste and rinse are designed with peroxides to help remove stains from the outside of your tooth. They also help to maintain your white smile once you’ve got it.
Paint-on formulas.
These can be purchased over the counter(OTC) in many pharmacies and are a method you can use at home. They are a type of tooth bleaching tool. Read the instructions on the box to make sure you aren’t overdoing it. Making sure it dries on your teeth, you should typically leave it on for about 20-30 minutes before rinsing. These can be good because you can use them on specific teeth instead of all if you have a particularly stained tooth.
Whitening strips.
Crest whitening strips work quite well. Make sure to dry your teeth well before applying the two whitening strips. You should keep the strips on for around 30 minutes without eating or drinking. Once you take them off, it is a good idea to rinse away any remaining gel.
Make a whitening laser appointment.
You can have your teeth professionally whitened. They will apply a solution of hydrogen peroxide to your teeth and then activate a high-intensity light. The process takes about an hour. Whitening lasers have been becoming more and more common and work well, but can also be rather pricey. Your Dental Health Partners Clinics in Worcester and Uxbridge offer various dental whitening specials for new patients.
Tooth Bleaching.
You can also find a dentist’s office that offers a tooth bleaching service to bleach your teeth into pearly whitehood. As with anything done professionally, this method will also cost more than OTC methods and home remedies but, with so many options, you’ll have a beautiful white smile in no time!
WARNING: Using any of these too often may eventually cause the breakdown of your tooth enamel, which does not grow back. This can leave your teeth looking more translucent and rather gray or blue. Make sure to use these methods sparingly and carefully and be sure to check for American Dental Association (ADA) approval.
