Teeth whitening can transform your smile, making your teeth up to eight shades whiter within a single appointment. The procedure itself is easy, but keeping your smile white takes a little bit more work. Fortunately, there are many common foods that have been shown to keep yellowing at bay. Here are a few that might help.
Crunchy Fruits and Vegetables
Apples, carrots, and celery are packed with nutrients, but they’re also great for your oral health in other ways. These foods increase your production of saliva, which naturally cleans the mouth by carrying food particles into the stomach. Crunchy fruits and vegetables also scrape away food from between your teeth as you eat.
Strawberries
Strawberries are famous for staining clothes but have the potential to whiten your teeth. They contain malic acid, which is purported to work like bleach to whiten your teeth. However, they also contain citric acid, which can erode enamel. If you want to use strawberries as a whitener, you can crush them into a paste that you rub on your teeth. Leave it for five minutes before washing your mouth out with water. Then, finish by brushing and flossing as normal.
Dairy Products
Milk and cheese are great for your bones, and evidence suggests they could also help protect your teeth from decay. One study found that young children who ate yogurt four times a week had significantly less tooth decay than children who didn’t. It’s thought that this is due to certain proteins in dairy products that protect the teeth from harmful acids.
Baking Soda
It’s long been maintained that baking soda can whiten your teeth, but recent science has proven its effectiveness. While brushing with baking soda by itself could be a little too much, there are several kinds of toothpaste on the market that have incorporated it into their products.
Oranges and Pineapples
Citrus can be a little dangerous for your teeth, but tart fruits happen to have some benefits to your oral health, namely in the production of saliva. As mentioned previously, saliva carries food particles out of the mouth, so more of it can make the mouth cleaner. Just be sure to follow the fruit with a little bit of brushing and flossing to remove the citric acid.
While it may not be as easy as getting teeth whitening, taking care of your smile doesn’t have to be a hassle. If you pair these foods with brushing and flossing, you should have white teeth for a long time to come.
About the Author
At Claybrooke Dental of Gahanna, we’ll welcome you into our office no matter your situation. If you’re nervous about dental care, if you don’t have insurance, or even if it’s just been a while since you’ve seen a professional about your teeth, we are happy to work with you to improve the quality of your smile. We offer both affordable in-office whitening procedures and professional take-home kits, so you can get your dream teeth despite your busy schedule. If you have any questions about teeth whitening, we can be reached at our website or by phone at (614) 475-1874.