Keeping Your Smile Bright After a Whitening Treatment
Professional teeth whitening is a personal investment that provides you with a beautiful smile and increased self-confidence. Protect your investment with at-home care designed to maintain the brightness of your professionally whitened smile.
Over-the-Counter Whitening
There are many teeth whitening methods available at the local drugstore. Aside from whitening kits, there are whitening toothpaste and natural ingredients to make your own whitening paste. Consider using baking soda and hydrogen peroxide to buff away surface stains that may have accumulated throughout the day. The grainy texture helps remove surface stains, and hydrogen peroxide passes easily through the layers of the tooth to break down complex stain molecules. When combined, these two ingredients make for effective yet gentle teeth whitening solution.
Preventive Measures
When adding preventive measures to your whitening routine, it’s important to consider why staining happens. Four hard tissues make up the structure of a tooth. Enamel is the part that is immediately visible. It is a strong white coating that protects the tooth during everyday use. Dentin supports the enamel and is a hard, yellow material that protects the inner chamber. Finally, a thin layer of cementum covers the tooth root. Numerous factors contribute to yellowing over time. Genetics, the color of the food and drink you consume, and how well you practice oral hygiene, are all factor that affects tooth color.
The enamel and dentin play the biggest role in color. The main cause of yellowing is the destructive food and drink that weaken the enamel over time. As the enamel breaks down from daily wear, too-vigorous brushing, or acidic foods and drinks, the yellow dentin begins to show through.
Stain-Causing Foods
Foods that contain a lot of flavonoids tend to stain the teeth more quickly. Flavonoids are a large class of plant pigments that are partly responsible for a foods coloring and taste. The following consumables have a high concentration of flavonoids and are known to accelerate yellowing:
- Coffee
- Red Wine
- Blueberries and Blackberries
- Tea
Soda and sugar attract bacteria that can break down enamel and cause teeth to change color faster than normal. Adding cream to your coffee, drinking more water, and using a straw are few things you can do to prevent yellowing.
Smoking also causes teeth to turn yellow at an accelerated pace. Consider quitting smoking after your whitening treatment to enjoy the brightening effects as long as possible.
For professional teeth whitening services in Lansdale, PA, come to the dental office of David M. Kaffey, DDS. Leading dental solutions provides a high standard of care and excellent treatment options. Our whitening solutions are both gentle and effective. Call Leading Dental Solutions today!