White teeth are a symbol of cleanliness here in the US. Some may even view it as youthfulness. All of these play a crucial role in why we want to keep our teeth white, but white teeth become harder to maintain as we grow older.
Americans love white teeth, and we have Hollywood to thank for that. However, you don’t need to undergo painful and costly procedures to attain it. Instead, you need to adopt healthy dental habits to get your teeth nice and white in most situations. Start by improving your oral hygiene every day.
Improve Your Oral Hygiene
If you want to have healthy and white teeth, you must improve your oral hygiene right now. It’s vital that you brush your teeth twice every day and great if you have the time for it. However, you shouldn’t go over that because you can erode the enamel found in your teeth, leading to teeth stains. These stains are dark yellow and aren’t attractive for anyone to see.
You should also floss before you brush. The food debris stuck between our teeth is the main reason for stains, so you should remove them whenever you can. Lastly, use mouthwash when you wake up and before you go to sleep.
Improving your oral hygiene is the first step toward having white teeth. The next thing you should avoid is any food or drinks that can stain your teeth.
Avoid Food or Drinks That Can Stain Your Teeth
Various food and drinks have been known to stain our teeth. These are soft drinks, coffee, red wine, and more. Additionally, acidic food such as oranges and any sour meal has been known to cause staining because they can damage our enamel.
You shouldn’t entirely remove these things from your diet. They have some vital nutrients that are necessary for your physical health. However, you shouldn’t consume too much of them either. Instead, keep it balanced, and consume acidic food and drinks moderately.
Increase Saliva Production
Our saliva is a healthy oral fluid that helps maintain our teeth. A dry mouth is one of the leading reasons people have off-colored teeth, and by increasing saliva production, you can help your mouth maintain your teeth to ensure that it stays white in the long run.
You can increase saliva through various options. The first and simplest way is to consume sugar-free gum. Gum has been known to increase saliva production, and as long as there’s no sugar in your gum, it’s healthy for your body and teeth. Another option is to consume fruits and vegetables such as apples, carrots, and celery because they can help stimulate saliva production.
Other Options
So what happens if none of the suggestions above works? Well, you’ll have to resort to other options in keeping your teeth white. One procedure that’s commonly used is a teeth whitening treatment.
Teeth whitening treatment is one of the most commonly done cosmetic dental procedures. It only takes a few minutes, but right after, your teeth will shine like the sun. It can remove temporary stains and keep your teeth clean during the process. However, it can’t fully remove the stains from teeth resulting from permanent degradation. Sometimes our teeth go through permanent degradation. This can happen primarily because of age, but dental diseases can also be the reason for this degradation.
When this happens, some of our teeth can be stained permanently, and no manner of cleaning can remove it. If this ever happens to you, you’ll need dental veneers. This particular dental accessory is coverings placed in front of your stained teeth. This covers any abnormalities that your teeth might have and makes them look perfectly white.
All these options should be available in your local clinic. But here’s the question that might be running through your mind right now: is it essential for us to have white teeth?
Are White Teeth Essential?
White teeth show people that you are young and have healthy teeth. Moreover, they make your teeth look a lot cleaner than others. However, white teeth aren’t necessarily better than yellow teeth, aside from these cosmetic and psychological reasons.
Studies have shown that white teeth aren’t healthier than yellow or off-color teeth. They aren’t more resilient either. Some studies have even found that Asians with yellow or off-color teeth have more resilient teeth than Americans with white teeth. But this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t strive to get white teeth.
White teeth are clean, and they’ll certainly increase your self-esteem whenever you go outside. But make sure to maintain them as much as possible to ensure that they stay white.
