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How Can I Keep My Teeth White?

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These days, our society places a lot of importance on a beautiful smile and who can blame us? With advances in modern dentistry, we know more about protecting our oral health and our smile than ever before.

If you’re like a lot of people, you’ve noticed how the focus on a pearly smile has shifted dramatically in the past fifteen years. All you have to do is watch a television show or movie from before the year 2000 and you’ll notice a lot more “yellow” smiles than we see today. Back then, it was normal to have yellow teeth but that’s in the past and increasingly, white teeth are no longer the exception, they’re becoming the norm.

Perhaps you’re new to in-office bleaching treatment, or perhaps you’ve been taking advantage of this amazing procedure for years. Either way, you want to do everything you can to preserve your results in-between treatments. After all, you KNOW there’s much you can do every day, at home and while you’re living life that can either enhance the results of your treatment, or that can do the opposite and accelerate the staining process.

Here’s our advice to help maintain a brighter smile for as long as possible:

1. Take excellent care of your mouth. The first line of defense against tooth stains is to practice excellent oral hygiene. This means to brush your teeth upon wakening (to get rid of bacteria collected overnight), brush your teeth right after you eat, especially if you consume food or beverages that are known for staining teeth. You can replace your usual tooth paste for tooth whitening toothpaste and don’t forget to floss your teeth at least once a day to remove plaque.

2. Avoid staining foods. If you’re adamant about keeping your teeth white, you may want to avoid tooth staining foods, such as coffee, chocolate, colas, red wine, black tea, dark berries, and curry. If you don’t want to cut your favorite foods out of your diet, be sure to rinse your mouth out with water and brush immediately after consuming staining foods and beverages. Just realize that if you drink coffee or wine regularly or consume berries often, they will stain your teeth due to the deeply pigmented molecules in these foods.

3. Schedule follow-up visits. If you have your teeth whitened professionally at the dentist, realize they aren’t going to stay that way forever. After the in-office whitening treatment, your dentist will likely send a whitening kit with you to follow-up at home. To keep your teeth white, you’ll need to use this whitening kit. Remember, lifestyle factors, such as drinking red wine, eating fresh berries, drinking dark-colored sodas, smoking and poor oral hygiene may require more frequent visits to the dentist for a touch-up.

To learn more about teeth whitening, click here. Suggested reading: “Smile-Friendly vs. Smile-Challenging Foods.”

To schedule an exam and whitening treatment with our Ventura dentist, contact us today at (805) 295-8896.

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