Enamel thinning, stains caused by smoking, and excess intake of certain food products cause our teeth to have a yellowish appearance. This only impacts your dental health but your overall appearance as well. While the best way to prevent this from happening is to take care of your oral hygiene and get professional teeth bleaching services from a dentist, you can bleach your teeth at home. There are many DIY teeth whitening tips recommended by dentists.
Continue reading to know how to whiten teeth at home:
Use Baking Soda to Whiten Teeth
It is one of the most commonly used home remedies to whiten teeth. You can use it along with your toothpaste. It works by gently polishing away stains from teeth. Its efficacy has been proven in research, defying the claims of people who believed baking soda has the potential of grinding away enamel from teeth.
Apart from being an effective teeth yellowing solution, baking soda can also aid in fighting bacteria. This means it helps in reducing plaque, and ultimately, preventing tooth decay.
Use Hydrogen Peroxide
Another way to get whiter teeth at home is to use hydrogen peroxide. It is a natural bleaching agent, which offers an additional function of killing bacteria in the mouth. Because of this ability, it has been used to disinfect wounds as well.
Due to its distinct properties, hydrogen peroxide is found in many teeth whitening and bleaching products. However, they tend to have a higher concentration of this element.
It is important that you only use hydrogen peroxide moderately as excess use can harm your dental health by eroding your tooth enamel.
Make Changes to Your Diet
What we eat greatly impacts our dental and overall health. It also impacts the appearance of our teeth as well. So, if you are looking for a natural teeth whitening method without having to undergo any dental procedure, adopt the habit of eating healthy food.
For this, you will have to limit the intake of acidic food and fast food. Furthermore, sugary foods must also be avoided. Tea, coffee, dark sodas, wine, and juices are some beverages that you need to avoid in order to flash a beautiful and sparkling smile.
If you are a regular smoker, try reducing this habit. It will be beneficial for your oral and overall health.
Follow the Preventive Methods
While the aforementioned dental tips for teeth whitening can certainly prove to be effective, it is recommended to try preventing tooth discoloration before it happens. Here’s how you can do it:
- Increase calcium intake. In some cases, enamel eroding exposes the yellow dentin that lies beneath this surface. This is why it is important to strengthen the enamel, and for this, increasing your calcium intake is recommended. Make sure to add broccoli, milk, cheese, and other calcium-rich foods to your diet.
- Maintain proper health. Nothing can help you in teeth whitening at home more than maintaining optimal oral health. So, brush twice a day, floss daily, and use quality mouthwash.
- Schedule a visit to your dentist once every six months. Usually, the routine process includes dental bleaching/whitening services as well. So, in addition to improving your oral health, it will also enhance your smile as well.
If your teeth color doesn’t improve even after following the aforementioned tips, visit an experienced dentist. They will inspect your teeth, get to the root cause of the issue, and devise a treatment plan accordingly.