From choosing the right foods to following some dental practices, you can take several measures to whiten your teeth and brighten your smile. While over-the-counter products and professional teeth whitening treatments provide artificial results, we will be discussing the measures to ensure whiteness in the teeth naturally.
While over the counter products provide results, they also have chemicals, which is concerning for some people. From what we eat to the way we manage our dental routine, a lot of things influence the teeth’s health, colour, and shine.
Read on to know the at-home ways to get white teeth.
The Best Way to Get White Teeth | Move to White Diet
What’s a white diet, you may ask? Primarily, dentists recommend switching to a white diet after you have undergone a professional teeth whitening treatment. Post-treatment, the teeth get slightly porous, temporarily exposing the dentin layer.
Eating and drinking foods that can cause discolouration can lead to yellow teeth, and that’s why dentists recommend following this diet for at least 48 hours. But even after that, you must follow the same diet to keep your teeth white.
What are the foods that can cause discolouration?
That would be;
- Wine
- Tea
- Coffee
- Sugary products like candy, chocolate, etc.
- Dark fruits include cherries, pomegranates, blackberries, blueberries, etc.
Don’t cut these foods out from your diet permanently. The purpose is to consume them judiciously. No dentist would risk recommending a Brit to drop drinking tea.
But yes, those with sensitive teeth must adhere to a white diet almost regularly. Tuning down the frequency of consuming these foods and drinks will go a long way in helping you keep your teeth white and shiny.
The rationale behind not eating these foods is to minimise the contact of dyes and pigments released with the teeth. Limiting these foods is even more critical for teeth with higher sensitivities.
What Foods Shall I Eat to Promote Whiteness in Teeth?
Besides avoiding the foods that lead to teeth staining, you must go for the foods that promote white teeth. Consuming drinks and foods that promote teeth whitening is one of the best ways to get shinier teeth.
Teeth staining foods have higher amounts of acidity and dyes to cause discolouration, but these foods have lower amounts of the, thus promoting teeth whiteness.
- Rice
- Bread
- Pasta
- Chicken
- Tofu
- Fish
- White cheese
- Yoghurt
- Fruits – pear, banana, pineapple, apple.
- Vegetables- potato, cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, and shiitake mushrooms.
- Sesame and poppy seeds
We cannot avoid consuming foods and drinks. But we can follow the practices that lead to whiter teeth, can’t we?
Follow These Additional Teeth Whitening Treatments at Home
Alongside following a white diet (eating foods with less acidity, dyes, and pigments), you can follow a few other methods for white teeth.
-
Oil Pulling
Oil pulling includes swishing oil in your mouth to remove plaque, bacteria, and toxins. Generally, people use sesame oil or sunflower oil, but coconut oil is also a popular choice as it provides additional benefits.
The practise originated in India and has shown promising results. A couple of studies have linked oil pulling to treat gingivitis and killing bacteria. As oil pulling helps get rid of bacteria and plaque, it indirectly helps with teeth whitening.
-
Brushing with Baking Soda and Hydrogen Peroxide
A toothpaste mixed with baking soda and hydrogen peroxide has proven to be an effective remedy for removing plaque & bacteria from the teeth. Due to this, you will end up with whiter teeth after regular brushing with a paste with these two ingredients. Toothpaste with baking soda and 1% hydrogen peroxide has proven to be an effective mixture for teeth whitening.
You may not get a market product with these ingredients. But you can make a paste at home. Add 1 tablespoon of baking soda and 2 tablespoons of hydrogen peroxide. It will build up into a paste; use it daily, followed by rinsing your mouth thoroughly.
Baking soda is also effective when used individually to clean the teeth. We have a study linking the effectiveness of baking soda making teeth more white in under six weeks.
-
Follow Immaculate Oral Hygiene
Maintaining excellent oral health is another way to ensure whiter teeth. Because when you ensure that there is no plaque building up in the mouth, the teeth will naturally remain clean and white.
The practices to follow for maintaining oral hygiene includes;
- Brush your teeth after waking up & before going to bed. While brushing, make sure to clean the gum area and the backside of your teeth.
- Use a toothpaste that has fluoride as it can fight the bacteria and help with tooth decay.
- Additionally, you can also use floss to clean your teeth and remove the plaque from between the teeth.
Two reasons accrue to yellowing of the teeth;
- Thinning of the enamel: There’s an outer layer of enamel covering the outer surface of the teeth and protecting the deeper layers of the same.
Due to several reasons, the enamel starts to wear off gradually, exposing the dentin layer, which is naturally yellow-brown.
So, when the enamel layer is absent, your teeth will look yellowish.
This is the reason why dentists recommend not consuming acidic foods, as they can deplete the enamel layer.
- Stains: Foods like coffee, tea, red wine, and some types of fruits and vegetables (listed above) can cause stains on the teeth. Eating these foods will turn your teeth yellow, making you look for teeth whitening treatments and cures.
What Does Not Work in Teeth Whitening?
Besides the teeth whitening methods you see above, you may hear or read some more methods to get whiter teeth. These include;
- Eating lemons and oranges
- Using apple cider vinegar
- Activated charcoal
While we can shove lemons, oranges, and apple cider vinegar aside due to their acidity. Activated charcoal, on the other hand, needs a discussion.
Manufacturers of toothpaste that contain activated charcoal are billed as a remedy for teeth whitening, remineralisation, and having antimicrobial & antifungal properties.
But researchers have not found credible evidence to substantiate these claims. Using toothpaste with activated charcoal can, however, harm the tooth enamel due to its abrasive texture.
Conclusion
White teeth instil confidence and give you a great smile so that you can impress everyone in the room. Getting natural white teeth with homely remedies is easy, provided you are using the right methods and treatments.
Consume foods that promote whiteness in teeth and avoid the ones that take away the teeth’s shine by depleting the tooth enamel. People with sensitive teeth and gums must contact their dentist and go for professional treatment for best results.