About half of the US population visits their dentist twice per year. That’s tens of millions of people that are being proactive in improving their smiles.
When investing time in improving your teeth, the improvements you’ll want to see aren’t always with functional things like having less mouth pain. Sometimes, the improvements you’ll seek will be of the cosmetic variety.
Among the most popular cosmetic outcomes dentist-goers crave, is a whiter smile which is why we chose to write this post on teeth-whitening tips!
We implore you to keep reading if you’ve ever wanted to achieve a brighter smile quickly and effectively. Below, we break down everything from clinical to natural ways to make your teeth shine!
Table of Contents
1. Brush Regularly
Sometimes the most obvious solutions are the best solutions. To that end, for most people, simply brushing on a regular schedule can help them achieve an acceptably bright smile.
Our recommendation is to talk to your dentist for guidance on how often you should be brushing. If you’re looking for general guidance, once in the morning, once before bed, and as needed after meals is a good place to start.
2. Upgrade Your Toothpaste
Brushing alone isn’t going to give you that sparkling smile you’re craving. You’ll need to pair your habitual brushing with a quality toothpaste.
If you take one thing away from our teeth whitening tips, let it be that all pastes are not created equal. As a matter of fact, some budget pastes do very little to help give your teeth that white glow.
Fortunately, there are plenty of pastes that are in the $5 range that can get you to where you want to go. To find them, read online reviews, lean on name brands, and always give special attention to pastes that advertise their teeth whitening capabilities.
3. Get a Professional Cleaning
Some teeth whitening jobs are best left to the pros. In these cases, ditch your DIY efforts and book an appointment with your local dentist.
Not only will your dentist give you a thorough checkup to see if you have any pervasive issues with your mouth but they’ll also have their hygienist give your mouth a deep, clinical wash.
Few people are able to achieve the level of cleanliness at home that your dentist can afford you in their office. Because of that, even if your teeth are in good shape, we recommend getting a professional cleaning at least once per year. If you need a recommendation, you can book an appointment for teeth cleaning services with the family dentist Indialantic.
4. Invest in an Explicit Teeth Whitening Solution
While your teeth will get whiter when you brush them, brushing your teeth isn’t a process undergone for the express purpose of whitening teeth. There are, however, things you can do to your mouth that are focused on whitening.
For example, your dentist likely sells a teeth whitening service where they’ll dip your teeth in a UV conducting gel and subject your smile to light for 15 to 30 minutes. There are also various teeth whitening kits you can buy that allow you to give yourself DIY whitening treatments.
Approach DIY treatments with caution as some may visibly (or invisibly) damage your smile.
5. Avoid Offending Food/Drinks
Drinks like coffee, soda, and wine are all tinted and feature acidity. That mixture of color and acid simultaneously dye and eat away at your smile, making it look and perform worse.
We won’t tell you to ditch all of your favorite drinks and foods that might work to deteriorate your teeth. We will request though that you limit them if long-term smile beauty is a priority.
Safe edibles like vegetables, non-acidic fruits, and water are all better things to base your tooth-friendly diet around.
6. Rinse When You Do Eat/Drink Destructive Foods
One of the best tips for dental health we ever received was that we should make it a point to rinse with water after eating acidic/tinting foods. Rinsing is better than brushing right after taking in these kinds of edibles because brushing after exposing your teeth to acidity can actually damage your smile.
By rinsing after exposing your mouth to bad foods, you remove a lot of damaging properties that afford your teeth an extra layer of protection.
7. Try Natural Remedies
As with all things in life, there are a handful of natural teeth whitening tips you may want to dabble in. We’re not huge advocates of natural remedies only because their track record of working is haphazard.
Still, one of our favorite natural teeth whitening that doesn’t cause sensitivity methods is to rub your teeth with the inside of a banana peel. You won’t see results leveraging this method right away and may not see them at all.
Some people though report that, over time, they’ve noticed their teeth getting whiter.
8. Go With Veneers
This is probably overkill for most readers but if your teeth are severely damaged, ditch the half-measures and go with veneers.
Veneers are replacement teeth that a dental professional can install in your mouth. They look great, can seem very natural, and will serve you just like natural teeth would.
Veneers can be expensive so get a quote on them before getting too excited.
We Hope Our Teeth Whitening Tips Give You Renewed Confidence
Teeth whitening tips are important because a brighter smile instills people with confidence which then nets them a better life.
We hope you enjoy that benefit as you explore some of the tips we’ve shared. For more dental hygiene advice, we welcome you to explore some of the newest health content we have available on our blog.