How To Get Gleaming White Teeth?

Sparkling white teeth is something that is desired by everyone. Apart from enhancing the beauty of your smile, they also increase your confidence levels and give you a vibrant personality. Also, it has been proved that about 2.43 billion people are suffering from dental problems around the world. So, it’s about time you invest in teeth whitening steps to get rid of those icky yellow stains. With these easy-to-follow remedies, you can have a beautiful smile without wasting money on bleaching trays and other expensive whitening solutions.

Tooth discoloration:

Americans spend an estimated 1.4 billion dollars in whitening their teeth every year. Below are some of the factors that affect your teeth and lead to discoloration.

• Foods/drinks – Tea, coffee, colas, wines, and certain fruits and vegetables such as apples and potatoes can stain your teeth.
• Tobacco use – Smoking or chewing tobacco can stain teeth at a fast pace because these contain substances that have the cause yellow discoloration on the teeth.
• Poor dental hygiene – Improper brushing and flossing definitely cause teeth problems and discoloration.
• Disease – Various diseases affect the enamel, which is the hard surface of the teeth, lead to tooth discoloration. Certain medical therapies like chemotherapy, head and neck radiations also cause teeth discoloration.
• Advancing age – Age is one of the main factors that leads to discoloration of the teeth. As you grow older, the outer layer of enamel of your teeth gets worn away.
• Environment – Excessive fluoride usage from environmental sources like high levels in water or from toothpastes and fluoride supplements can cause teeth discoloration.

How you can prevent teeth discoloration?

Prevention of problems of the teeth is possible by making a few and simple lifestyle changes, including cutting down the consumption of tea, coffee, drinking, and smoking. People can improve dental hygiene by brushing, flossing and using mouth washes on regular basis. Regular brushing of teeth is very necessary to avoid various dental problems. It has been recommended by dentists to brush the teeth atleast twice a day to stay away from various dental issues. If people can’t brush their teeth twice a day, then they should stick to a habit of brushing the teeth at least once a day for five minutes. Furthermore, to stay away from dental issues, try to get the teeth cleaned by a dentist every 6 months.

Remedies to whiten the teeth:

Various natural home remedies are available to whiten the teeth, which include regular brushing of teeth and flossing techniques, veneers (protect tooth surface from damage), and over-the-counter whitening agents. Some of the basic home remedies to whiten the teeth are:

• Baking soda and lemon juice paste – Baking soda is known as sodium bicarbonate, which is mildly abrasive and is also alkaline (the opposite of acidic). This helps you in balancing out the pH level by breaking down the acid, which get generated in the mouth. Gently scrubbing of sodium bicarbonate on the teeth also helps in removing surface stains. You just need to have spoons of baking soda, lemon juice and water to form a paste along with a tooth brush. After making the paste, you can wipe the extra saliva off with a paper towel. By applying the paste on the teeth for 1 minute, you can rinse your mouth to avoid the acid effecting enamel.
• Strawberry, salt and baking soda scrub – Strawberries are rich in vitamin C, which help in breaking down plaque. Malic acid is an enzyme in strawberries that helps in removing surface stains. Moreover, salt acts as an abrasive portion of the paste and baking soda greatly enhances the whitening of your teeth. You can try it at night by mashing the strawberries into pulp by adding sea salt and ½ teaspoon of baking soda. Wipe extra saliva off your teeth with a paper or towel, and then apply the mixture on the teeth for 5 minutes. This process will definitely whiten your teeth.

• Coconut oil rinse – This sounds pretty awful but rinsing your mouth with coconut oil is a unique and old remedy. Rinsing with coconut oil makes a difference in the color of your teeth because lauric acid in coconut oil helps in getting rid of bacteria found in plaque that makes teeth yellow. Furthermore, coconut oil rinse is a natural way of promoting gum health, and keeps your breath fresh. Before brushing your teeth, scoop out a tablespoon of coconut oil and put it in your mouth. Swish, and pull the oil through and around your teeth for a few minutes, then spit it out, rinse with water, and brush your teeth and then see the difference.
• Whitening toothpaste – You can go for American Dental Association (ADA) approved whitening toothpaste, which consists of abrasive particles to polish teeth along with chemicals that bind to stains and remove them. Additionally, you can look for an ingredient called blue covarine, it binds your teeth and creates an optical illusion that makes them appear less yellow.
• Whitening trays – Tray based tooth whitening systems can be purchased by people either from chemists or from a dentist. This involves filling a mouth guard-like tray with a gel whitening solution that contains a peroxide-bleaching agent. Whitening trays are placed in the mouth for a period of time, which lasts from hours to weeks and even longer (depending on the degree of discoloration and desired level of whitening).
• Whitening strips – These strips are made of polyethylene and peroxide gel, which have to be placed directly on the teeth to get the results. Try to keep in mind, not to purchase whitening strips that contain chlorine dioxide (chemical used to sterilize swimming pools). Moreover, polyethylene and peroxide gel contained strips can be used for 30 minutes twice a day for getting result in just 14 days.
• Whitening the teeth by a professional – You can head for a dentist, who will place a rubber guard or protective gel on your gums to protect them from irritation.
• Whitening teeth with laser whitening – This procedure is performed by a professional dentist. The effect of bleaching gel and bright light from the laser activates the chemical in the gel, which helps in whitening of your teeth.

Following all these remedies is not a guarantee, however you get one step closer towards getting the perfect teeth. Try avoiding dark drinks like cola, coffee and wine that stains your teeth. Regularly brushing your teeth after every meal and using a good mouthwash can brighten your teeth and lessen yellow staining. These home remedies are painless and harmless ways of whitening your teeth.

Gleaming white teeth are every person’s dream! So, share this blog with friends and family. Also, use the comment boxes to post any health queries. If you wish to receive more health-related posts, you can subscribe to the Premium blog.

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