Can You Brighten Your Teeth without Teeth Whitening?

The desire for brighter teeth is a natural one. After all, along with your eyes, your smile is one of your face’s most dominant features, and teeth stains can diminish its brilliance fairly easily.  Because of the frequency of teeth staining and dulling, teeth whitening treatments are among the most frequently requested dental procedures. Fortunately, you can prolong your smile’s brilliance before stains develop, or following a teeth-whitening treatment, with good hygiene and a few easy tips.

Preventing Teeth Stains

Like most dental health issues, the best and most effective way to prevent your teeth from changing colors is to practice good hygiene. Teeth stains can result from a number of influences, from excessive plaque buildup to the food and beverages you consume. By brushing and flossing your teeth after meals (whenever possible, but at least twice every day), you can remove bacterial plaque and food debris to reduce your risks of unsightly teeth staining.

Tips to Keep Your Smile Bright

If one of or more of your teeth are internally damaged or develop an infection, then the resulting discoloration might no longer be preventable. For more common stains, however, you can keep your teeth bright and blemish-free with these few tips;

• Watch what you eat—It might not come as a surprise, but darker foods and beverages (like red wine and dark sauces) are more likely to stain your teeth than others. Drinking water after eating darker substances will help rinse away the color molecules, or chromogens, that cling to your teeth.
• Use fluoride toothpaste—The outer layer of your teeth, called tooth enamel, stains easier when it’s weak. Fluoride, a naturally-occurring ion of the element, fluorine, strengthens tooth enamel by bonding to its weakened layers, reducing the risk of stains and cavities.
• Scrub with baking soda—Many toothpaste brands contain baking soda in addition to fluoride, but you using pure baking soda, as well. The minuscule mineral crystals are abrasive enough to scrub plaque and minor stains from your teeth, but mild enough not to scrub away your tooth enamel (if you brush gently).
• Use mouthwash—Rinsing your mouth with mouthwash after brushing and flossing helps clear away lingering bacteria, plaque, and food particles, and can keep your breath fresh for longer in the process. Rinsing after a meal will also help reduce your food’s effects on your tooth enamel.

Share this Article