Christmas and New Year’s usually means plenty of family time, parties, and pictures. Want your teeth to be white and sparkly for the holidays? Here are our tips!
We’ve mentioned before that there are three types of teeth whitening. Two of those types are home kits—professional-strength Crest Whitening Strips, and customized whitening trays. The customized trays are our most popular method of whitening because they are affordable and offer quick and impressive results. The results are gradual enough to make the process look natural and to let you decide how white you want your teeth to be. They also allow you to touch up your smile every few months so you can always have a bright smile.
For this at-home teeth whitening, Boise dentists recommend allowing three to four weeks to get to your desired level of brightness. That means you need to start the whitening process this week to be finished by Christmas! You can speed up the process by using the trays or strips once or even twice a day.
Keeping teeth clean is the best thing you can do to keep them white—you can help get a whiter smile by simply brushing and flossing three times a day. Remember that doing a great job brushing your teeth doesn’t mean brushing really hard (which can damage gums and tooth enamel) but brushing for a longer period of time (usually about two minutes).
Getting a new toothbrush can help you keep the best dental care and hygiene as well. A sonic toothbrush will clean your teeth extraordinarily well and can be even more valuable if you are brushing around dental work like braces or a permanent retainer. Some electric or sonic toothbrushes will even time themselves so that you know you are brushing for a good two minutes.
No matter what type of teeth whitening, Boise dentists highly recommend staying away from coffee, tea, soda, and other dark, staining foods that can diminish your teeth whitening results. This is especially true for the day after a one-appointment teeth whitening, but it still holds true for the at-home kits or any time you want your teeth especially white and pretty. If you can’t go without your morning coffee or afternoon Diet Coke, you can lessen its impact by diluting the color with milk in coffee and by rinsing with water immediately after drinking.
Whatever type of teeth whitening you decide on, these tips will help you get your teeth sparkling for pictures by Christmas.
(Image via Flickr by ColorblindRain)
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