Many things can stain teeth, including antibiotics, quirks in individual metabolism, even a high fever. The yellower your tooth stains, the easier it will be to remove them. (Here’s 5 ways to keep your teeth from getting yellower.) Deep brown stains, such as those brought on by use of the antibiotic tetracycline during childhood when teeth are forming, can be very difficult to erase, says W. Brian Powley, DDS. The good news is that many common tooth stains—the coffee and cigarette variety—can often be washed away between professional cleanings. Here’s how to whiten teeth.
Brush After Every Meal
If you clean your teeth regularly and conscientiously, you have less chance of keeping stains on your teeth. “Brush in a circular motion (not back and forth),” says John C. Moon, DDS. MORE: What Really Happens If You Only Brush Once A Day?
Check Your Plaque Quotient
Rinse with a disclosing solution from your dentist to show where plaque remains on your teeth after brushing. Those spots are where your teeth will stain if you don’t improve your brushing technique.
Rinse Often
After every meal, rinse the food from your teeth, says Moon. If you can’t get to a restroom, pick up your water glass, take a swig, then rinse and swallow at the table.
Switch To An Electric Toothbrush
Reluctant brushers do better with the electric version, and will clean their teeth more often than if they just used a manual toothbrush, says the Academy of General Dentistry. But when it comes to plaque removal, it depends more on the quality of your brushing than the type of toothbrush you’re using.
Be Choosy About Your Mouthwash
All mouthwash is fine for rinsing, but mouthwash that has an antibacterial action will reduce stain-catching plaque. And now you can find whitening mouthwash products made by Crest and Listerine that may help a little, says Moon.
Use A Whitening Toothpaste
Dentists used to warn patients away from over-the-counter whitening products because they contained gritty abrasives that could erode the tooth enamel. But manufacturers have gotten better at using peroxide instead of abrasives to give you a slightly brighter after-brushing effect. MORE: How To Whiten Teeth But don’t expect miracles. Because peroxides in toothpastes or polishes stay on the tooth surface only for a brief period of time, they give just a bit of whitening and it doesn’t last very long, says Moon. Even the lighteners you get at the dentist’s office won’t last forever—there’s no permanent solution, he explains. That’s because after you get your teeth nice and white, you’ll probably still be drinking tea, coffee, colas—the same things that stained your teeth in the first place.
Sip Through A Straw
To prevent staining, or restaining, after you’ve used a whitener, consider drinking beverages such as coffee, tea, and cola through a straw to avoid staining your teeth again. “You may not enjoy drinking a fine red wine this way, but overall you can limit your exposure,” says Moon.
Scrub Gently
Just as abrasive products could scrub away enamel, overly aggressive brushing can expose the deeper-hued dentin, which, ironically, could make your teeth look even dingier.
Try Tooth Strips
This product looks like packing tape, but it fits across your teeth. The strips keep peroxide on the teeth a little bit longer than a tooth polish, so they’ll get them a bit whiter. They’re simple, inexpensive, and safe, says Moon. Regular use can lighten your teeth 2 to 3 shades, compared with the 8 to 10 shades of lightening you can get from a dentist-directed home-bleaching program or in-office treatment.
Use A Bleach Tray
One of the most effective means of bleaching teeth is a home-bleaching program. Your dentist custom fits you with a mouth-guard-like tray that fits over your teeth. You fill it each night with a concentrated bleach solution and wear it for 1 to 2 hours per day, for 1 to 2 weeks, says Powley. This option costs between $400 and $600. While more expensive, the results are dramatically more effective than you can obtain with over-the-counter products. Some companies make over-the-counter bleaching kits that come with whitening gel and trays that fit onto your teeth. These one-size-fits-all trays don’t conform specifically to the surfaces of your teeth and gums. Not only is the peroxide distributed unevenly over your tooth surfaces, but it also may irritate your gums. The reason professional bleaching methods work better is that they use a higher concentration of peroxide that penetrates the tiny tubules that run from the outside of your tooth into the dentin, where they oxidize the discoloration.
Do It All In One Visit
If you’re impatient because you have a wedding or special event coming up, a dentist can bleach your teeth in a 1- to 2-hour appointment by using a concentrated carbamide peroxide solution and a special light that “powers” the material into the dentin. The only downside is the cost, which can be $500 to $800. But if you have sensitive teeth, be cautious with this method. “This method is like doing 1 or 2 weeks of treatments in 1 or 2 hours, which can worsen sensitivity,” says Moon. If your teeth are already sensitive, Dr. Moon recommends using the slower, more conservative methods. MORE: Get A Whiter, Younger-Looking Smile On Your Schedule
Cures from the Kitchen
Surf the Internet, and it seems that everybody has a miracle home-grown cure for brighter, whiter teeth. To cut through the clutter and find out what really works, we talked to Jennifer Jablow, DDS, of Park 56 Dental in New York City, about foods that can whiten your smile—and ones to avoid. Here is what she had to say: Crunchy fruits & vegetables: “They have a natural cleansing action,” she says. “Apples have a gentle malic acid that also helps dissolve the stains and mechanically rub the stains, too.” Lemons: What about sucking on a fresh lemon? “This is a terrible idea,” says Jablow. “The acid can erode the enamel away and make the teeth even darker by exposing the dentin layer, which is yellow.” Strawberries mixed with baking soda: Another online remedy advocates brushing your teeth with a mixture of ground-up strawberries and baking soda: “Plain baking soda is better,” says Jablow. “But it’s very abrasive, so only brush with baking soda once a week.”
Panel Of Advisors
Jennifer Jablow, DDS, is in practice at Park 56 Dental in New York City. John C. Moon, DDS, is a cosmetic and general dentist in Half Moon Bay, California. W. Brian Powley, DDS, is a dentist in private practice in Paradise Valley, Arizona.
