Tips for Your Best and Brightest Smile – Simple Do’s and Don’ts

Your smile is often the first thing people will notice about you, so it’s only natural to want to put your best (and whitest) foot forward. As you live life, it’s natural to notice your teeth starting to lose their pearly white glow and want to do something to help revive them. We’ve compiled this list of do’s (and don’ts!) for keeping your teeth their whitest so you can rest assured that no one is seeing anything but a beautiful white smile! As with your overall health, prevention is key!

Do’s to Promote Your Brightest Smile!

1. Get regular cleanings – Getting your teeth cleaned regularly helps remove built up stains from food and drinks that may have left their mark over time, and polishes your teeth leaving them feeling fresh and healthy.
2. Have a whitening treatment – The quickest way to remove stains from your teeth is to have a whitening treatment. These can be done in a dental office, at home with custom made trays, or by using commercially sold whitening strips. Do your research and talk to your dentist about which option is right for you.
3. Eat crunchy fruits and vegetables – The firmness of crunchy fruits and vegetables helps to polish your teeth while you’re eating them. Apples, celery, popcorn and carrots are all great options.
4. Change your toothbrush regularly – When your toothbrush gets worn down, it’s not able to clean your pearly whites as well as it once did. You should change your toothbrush every 3 months or so in order to clean the surfaces of your teeth the best.
5. Drink water after eating – Drinking water after eating helps to clean left over food particles from your teeth, which helps prevent the formation of tooth-discolouring plaque.
6. Brush with baking soda – Baking soda has natural whitening properties and is a natural abrasive so using it periodically will help whiten your teeth, and remove surface stains. Baking soda also creates an alkaline environment in your mouth, so tooth-decaying and colouring bacteria cannot thrive. Brushing with baking soda will not whiten your teeth overnight, but over time you will start to notice a colour change.
7. Follow a good oral hygiene regimen – Brushing twice a day, flossing regularly to remove plaque, and rinsing with an antiseptic mouthwash to kill plaque causing bacteria are all important habits to keep that help keep your teeth their whitest.

Avoid These to Prevent Smile Staining!

1. Don’t smoke – Smoking tobacco not only turns your teeth yellow or brown, but it also promotes the build up of plaque around your gums which can also discolour teeth. Besides, smoking is detrimental to your overall health! If you do smoke, your number one priority is to seek out medical help or the support you need and undertake a smoking cessation program.

2. Avoid teeth staining foods & beverages – Consuming things like coffee, tea, red wine, soda and dark berries can be known to leave stains on teeth. Avoiding the consumption of these items can prevent stains from forming right from the beginning. If you do consume these things, make sure you brush your teeth afterwards to prevent stains from settling in.
3. Let’s repeat this, as it is opposite of a few ideas above…DO NOT SKIP BRUSHING – It must be a must-do habit!

Achieving and Maintaining your Best Smile is Easy!

Keeping your teeth their whitest doesn’t need to be a difficult process, as long as you follow some (or all!) of these tips. The easiest way to maintain the whitest teeth you can is by using preventative measures, rather than trying to fix them after the fact.