No matter where you live or what kind of lifestyle you enjoy, chances are you have a habit that could stain your teeth. Whether you’re a coffee lover, a tea enthusiast, or a red wine connoisseur, your teeth might not be as bright as you want them to be. Here are a few tips for reducing staining on your teeth without giving up your favorite foods or beverages.

Drink Water After You Drink

Drinking water during or after you enjoy your tea, coffee, or red wine can also help reduce stains. That’s because the water can help flush away the staining compounds before they can adhere to your teeth. This is another reason why chewing gum afterward can help reduce stains. Chewing gum promotes saliva production, and saliva can help wash away staining compounds too.

Good Oral Hygiene

Brushing your teeth can help remove stains because of the abrasive components of toothpaste. But did you know that brushing and flossing can also help prevent stains? You’re more likely to accumulate stains on teeth that have plaque on them. That’s because plaque gives the staining components of your food and drink something to stick to. Think of it like this: coffee sticks to plaque, plaque sticks to your teeth, eventually stains stick to your teeth. But if you don’t have any plaque on your teeth, the staining compounds in coffee have less to hold on to!

Don’t Smoke!

This one may sound obvious, but we always have to mention it. When it comes to the damage that smoking can do to your oral and overall health, yellow teeth seems like the least of your worries. But we still can’t emphasize enough that smoking tobacco (or using other tobacco products) does terrible things to the color of your teeth. If having whiter teeth is enough of a motivator to get you to quit, we support you!

Turn to the Professionals

If you end up with staining or yellowing teeth despite all the tips listed above, feel free to ask us for advice specific to your individual smile. The professional teeth cleaning you get from the hygienist at your regular checkup can remove some stains. Plus the dentist and hygienist can look at your teeth and let you know what other treatments or lifestyle changes may be helpful.

The best teeth whitening is professional teeth whitening done here at the dentist by a dental professional. Teeth whitening kits from the drug store are effective, but they are more time consuming and may not remove stains as easily. Dentists can also provide a professional, custom version of an at-home whitening kit, with more powerful bleaching gels and bleaching trays that fit your specific teeth. We are happy to discuss which teeth whitening technique that is best for you!

The best way to maintain a healthy smile for a lifetime is great dental health habits. Here are a few hacks to your daily routine beyond the usual brushing and flossing that can help prevent tooth decay.

Drink Water

Washing a great meal down with a beverage can be very satisfying, and you can give you teeth a healthy boost by ensuring the last thing to touch your lips after a meal or a snack is water. Water can help flush away sugar and debris that the bacteria in your mouth would otherwise get to feed on and turn into tooth decay-causing acids.

Both with meals and throughout the day, don’t just stick to bottled water. Many prefer bottled water due to the taste, but you could be doing your teeth a disservice by avoiding fluoride. Over 70% of Americans live in communities with fluoridated water. Fluoride is a natural mineral that can prevent and even reverse tooth decay, and is also found as an active ingredient in toothpastes and mouthwashes (though obviously in much larger concentrations than in tap water). But filtered bottled water has either no fluoride or so little that it has no measurable benefit for your teeth.

Keep a Spare Toothbrush

All of us know we’re supposed to brush twice a day, and most people brush when they get up in the morning and before bed. But you can give your oral health an extra boost by brushing after every meal, including lunch. The problem is, most of us aren’t at home for lunch, therefore we’re away from our toothbrushes and floss. That’s an easy fix! Just stash a soft bristle toothbrush, a travel size toothpaste and roll of floss at your desk, in your locker, or in your car. You’ll have no excuses to leave the remnants of lunch stuck to your teeth!

Chew Sugar-Free Gum

Don’t have an extra tooth brush stashed away? Get some sugar free gum. Chewing gum after a meal can be about more than just fun flavors and having something to occupy your mouth. The American Dental Association recognizes that chewing sugar-free gum can actually help prevent cavities. That’s because the act of chewing gum stimulates your mouth to create more saliva, which can help neutralize acids from your foods and flush away debris.

The professional teeth whitening process starts with a consultation with your dentist. Not everyone is a good candidate for teeth whitening, which is why you want to talk to a dentist before you have it done. If you have large fillings or crowns (caps) on your front teeth, teeth bleaching is not a good idea. The chemicals will bleach your natural teeth but not your dental restorations (which are made from ceramic, porcelain or composite material), resulting in your teeth being different colors.

Teeth whitening is most effective on yellow discoloration, and can be less effective on brown or gray discolored teeth, especially when the discoloration is the result of exposure to tetracycline antibiotics while teeth are still developing (before age 8).

Next comes the actual whitening appointment. Once you’re comfortable in the chair, the dentist will insert a lip retractor into your mouth, which is just a plastic guide that moves your lips out of the way so your teeth are easy to access.
The dentist will then cover your gums around your front teeth with a gel and then harden it with a high-powered light. This is called a gingival barrier, and it protects your gums from the teeth bleaching chemicals during the whitening process. The dentist may also apply a compound to your teeth that will help prevent tooth sensitivity.

The actual whitening process involves the dentist applying a gel made of 15% to 35% hydrogen peroxide to your front teeth. Hydrogen peroxide can penetrate the porous outer layer of your teeth and break apart stain compounds using a chemical reaction called oxidation. Depending on the whitening system being used, the application of the whitening gel may be followed by applying a high-powered light that speeds up the whitening process.

Most systems involve multiple applications of the gel throughout the whitening session. The dentist will rinse off the gel and reapply a fresh coat as many times as necessary within the space of about 40 minutes. Once complete, the whitening procedure can achieve four to six shades of whitening after only one session. Some patients experience tooth or gum sensitivity after whitening, but this usually goes away within a day or two.

While the effects of teeth whitening can last quite a while (months to years), depending on diet and other habits (like smoking!), the stains on teeth will eventually return. Some dentists may recommend maintaining a freshly whitened smile with a professional home whitening kit. These kits include custom made trays to fit your teeth and tubes of whitening gel that has a lower concentration of bleaching agents than the in-office variety. The patient lines the trays with the gel and wears them for a few hours at a time each day or while sleeping.

When it comes to teeth whitening, you get what you pay for. While over-the-counter kits from the drugstore are cheap and offer the convenience of at-home bleaching without a visit to the dentist, they are slower and less effective than professional whitenings. And of course, without the supervision of a dentist, you don’t have the guidance you need to get the best results. If you want truly Hollywood-white teeth, invest in a professional teeth whitening administered by your dentist.

Teeth whitening is one of the quickest & least invasive ways to make a huge difference in the appearance of your smile. Most dentists offer either in-office teeth whitening, take-home teeth whitening kits, or both. The effectiveness of these whitening methods varies slightly, but the way they work is generally the same.

While many people refer to teeth whitening as bleaching, it’s important to know that the dentist doesn’t use the same chemical to whiten your teeth that you use to whiten your laundry! Laundry bleach is a chemical called sodium hypochlorite that smells like chlorine, & it can be poisonous if ingested, so we don’t want it anywhere near your mouth! For teeth bleaching, two chemicals are commonly used: hydrogen peroxide & carbamide peroxide.

Even though the hard outer surface of your teeth, called enamel, seems solid, on a microscopic level, it is actually porous. Stains & discoloration on your teeth appear when compounds from the foods you eat (or from smoking) penetrate this porous enamel layer & accumulate there. Teeth bleaching works when hydrogen peroxide creates a chemical reaction that breaks apart the staining compounds.

During an in-office teeth cleaning, the dentist will first clean your teeth then apply a gel that contains 10 to 35 percent hydrogen peroxide. Sometimes a high powered light is then used to help speed up the chemical reaction. After leaving it on for several minutes, the dentist will remove the bleaching gel, then re-apply it. The entire whitening procedure usually takes about 45 minutes to an hour.

For at-home teeth bleaching, your dentist will take an impression of your teeth & creates soft dental trays. These trays are then filled with a thin layer of gel that contains 10 to 20 percent carbamide peroxide. (Carbamide peroxide breaks down into hydrogen peroxide & urea in the mouth, so the active bleaching agent in at-home kits is still hydrogen peroxide.) At-home bleaching trays are worn for a few hours during the day or while sleeping. Because they are less powerful, at-home systems take longer to achieve the same whitening effects as in-office systems.

Teeth bleaching is not a good solution for everyone. Because teeth bleaching is designed to treat stains on natural tooth enamel, patients who have tooth colored restorations (i.e. fillings or crowns) or veneers should not get their teeth whitened. Whitening compounds do not work on the ceramic or porcelain composites these restorations are made from, so the result is that teeth color may become mismatched. Teeth bleaching will also not work well on tooth discoloration that is the result of changes inside the tooth, below the enamel, such as grayish teeth caused by certain medications. For this reason, we always recommend that teeth whitening, whether at home or in-office, be performed under the supervision of your dentist.

The color of their teeth is one of the top things people say they would like to change about their smile. Thankfully, teeth whitening is fairly simple treatment, but there are so many options for teeth whitening you may find yourself with a few questions. We think the most common and the most important question we hear is this: Why should I have my dentist whiten my teeth instead of using those drugstore whitening kits?

Dentists have access to better, more effective teeth whitening technologies. Strips and gels from the drugstore can make a difference, but the whitening agents they contain aren’t as strong as the ones at the dental office. Stronger solutions can and should only be used under the supervision of a dentist, which is why you’ll have to come to us if you want access to more effective whitening solutions.

Drugstore kits usually require you to apply them over the course of several days or weeks to see a difference, but a dentist can whiten your teeth in the course of a single visit. This is because dentists can use special technologies, such as special lights that accelerate the whitening process.

With in-office whitening, you can also choose the shade you want you teeth to be whitened to and your dentist will use their experience and expertise to get as close to that shade as possible. With drugstore tooth whitening kits, the shade you’ll end up with is anyone’s guess.

Perhaps the most important reason to have your dentist whiten your teeth actually has to your oral health and comfort. Teeth whitening is not recommended for people with gum disease or worn enamel. Also, some whitening agents are known to cause irritation or sensitivity in the teeth and gums. Your dentist can help prevent this from happening and can help you if any irritation and sensitivity does occur.

In-office professional teeth whitening is more expensive than at-home options, but what you get for your money is better technology, dentist supervisions and usually better results.

Interested in whitening but still haven’t decided to do it? Consider scheduling your whitening before a special event, especially one at which you know you might be photographed a lot, such as the holidays, graduation, or a wedding. Teeth whitening is a common cosmetic procedure for brides-to-be. Who wants a white dress with a yellow smile? But be sure to leave a few weeks between your teeth whitening and your wedding just in case you experience some of the side effects mentioned above.