Smile Check! Tips for A Tip-Top White and Healthy Smile throughout the Year

Your smile is typically the first thing most people will notice when they meet you for the first time. When you have oral imperfections like teeth discoloration, chips, and cracks, you will feel less attractive and unhealthy. Fortunately, you can work with your dentist to repair these imperfections and enhance your smile.

In general, a healthy oral routine and regular dental assessments are key factors to maintaining a healthy smile. A good smile will make you feel good about yourself, significantly improving your social life, career, and overall quality of life. Below, we share five secrets of maintaining a white and healthy smile.

How a Good Oral Hygiene Can Lead To a Healthy Smile

Good oral hygiene practices like brushing and flossing are the key factors behind a healthy smile. When you eat and drink, food particles and other debris can get trapped between the teeth. If not properly cleaned, these particles accumulate in the mouth and mix with the harmful bacteria in the mouth, forming plaque.

If plaque isn’t eliminated on time, it hardens to tartar, a dark-brown deposit and firmly attaches to the tooth’s surface and along the gum line. Plaque and tartar give your teeth a dull-brownish appearance. Over time, they erode your tooth’s enamel, causing cavities and decay. The longer these deposits sit on your teeth, the harder they are to remove. In fact, you’ll need professional cleaning to get rid of tartar.

When you brush twice daily and floss daily, the risk of plaque and tartar buildup in the mouth is significantly reduced. This protects you from cavities and other oral issues and helps you maintain a brighter and healthier smile.

Expert Tips for a Whiter Teeth and Healthy Smile

• Eat tooth-healthy foods

Eating healthy foods is important for your oral and overall wellbeing. Healthy foods provide numerous nutrients, which are essential for healthy gums and strong teeth. For instance, chewing crunchy fruits and vegetables can help keep your teeth clean and healthy. Similarly, calcium-rich foods like low-fat milk and broth can help promote strong and healthy teeth. If possible, limit foods that can encourage plaque and bacterial buildups like candy, sweets, sodas, and junk foods.

• Avoid staining habits

Highly colored food items are the key reason behind teeth stains. If you regularly consume staining food and drinks like tea, coffee, soda, and red wine, your risk of getting teeth stains is pretty high. Smoking, a risk factor for numerous cancers, is also known to cause stubborn tooth stains incredibly quickly.

If you’re looking to maintain a whiter smile, avoiding or limiting tobacco products and highly pigmented food items will save you money on whitening treatments. If you must consume highly colored items, it would help if you brush or rinse your mouth afterward. Similarly, you can use a straw for drinking staining and acidic beverages.

• Schedule whitening treatments

If you already have teeth stains, it might be good to invest in a whitening treatment. Professional teeth whitening from your dentist is a safe, effective, affordable, and durable way to maintain whiter teeth. If you have stubborn teeth stains that won’t respond to teeth whitening, your dentist can recommend alternative treatments like dental bonding, veneers, and crowns. Contact our dentist in Plano
for teeth whitening treatments.

• Stay hydrated

Water is incredibly important for maintaining healthy and whiter teeth. Drinking water helps wash away food particles and debris trapped on and between your teeth. This maintains a whiter smile and reduces the risk of cavities and gum disease. Similarly, staying hydrated ensures enough saliva flow in the mouth, preventing a dry mouth and bad breath. Drinking fluoridated tap water also helps to strengthen your teeth and prevent cavities.

• Schedule frequent dental checkups and cleanings

Regardless of how thorough you brush or floss your teeth, there’s still a risk of developing plaque and tartar in the hard-to-reach areas of the mouth. This puts you at a greater risk of teeth yellowing, cavities, and gum disease. For this reason, it’s always a good idea to visit your dentist at least twice yearly for dental exams and cleanings.

Your dentist will examine you and give treatments for oral issues that you wouldn’t otherwise have known about. Similarly, your dentist cleans your teeth to eliminate plaque and tartar. Your teeth are further polished to give them a whiter and shiny appearance.

Schedule an appointment

For more information about teeth whitening in Plano, TX, Contact Tru Plano Dental today to book your appointment.