Having teeth you can be proud of is a real confidence booster. Many adults visit us to make changes that will help them feel more confident about their smile. One of the major options that can make a big difference to your oral appearance is to lighten or whiten the colour of your natural teeth. Very few people are blessed with naturally shiny white teeth, and for most, a little help and assistance is needed, along with some small changes in lifestyle choices, to bring about perfect pearly whites.
So starting with the lifestyle factors, there are many things we do from day to day that can discolour our teeth. Smoking is a habit that plays a big part in the discolouration process and is certainly worth giving up, for that and many other health-related reasons. In addition, ensuring that you moderate certain foods and drinks will help too. Tea, coffee and red wine are the culprits for most of us, but if you don't want to cut them out of your life completely, then just make sure they do not play such a regular part.
Regular trips to your dentist will help to keep tartar at bay and good daily cleaning habits are a must too. Tooth whitening toothpastes can be helpful as part of this routine. Some things just may be out of your control though. We all have a natural tooth colour, and this does differ from person to person so your teeth just may have been less white to start with. Cracks in teeth, which often occur with age, also do little to help, and having certain medicines such as antibiotics, can have a detrimental effect. So there are many factors that come to play, and it really is rather difficult to control all of them.
Once you have decided that a treatment is the right option for you, your dentist can advise on which one is best suited and most effective for you. Over time there have been many developments in teeth whitening. It remains safest and best to let a professional apply any whitening treatment and there are many scary stories that still abound about home whitening kits! Traditional professional whitening treatments involve a series of visits to the dentist where a gentle bleaching process that does not remove any of the surface area of the teeth, is applied. Alternatives to this are called laser or power whitening treatments and involve the painting on of a lightening chemical that is then activated by a light that speeds up the process. Professional treatments can lighten your teeth by several shades and the effects can last for a number of years. However, to maximise the effects of the treatment it is important to continue to make those changes to your lifestyle.
Tooth whitening is a popular treatment that sees excellent results.If you are interested in finding out more, or booking a consulation, then call us on 0800 0154 222 or email reception@riversidedentalspa.com
