Your cosmetic dentist can offer you the most powerful whitening agents available which can lighten your teeth up to eight shades. Zoom teeth whitening often keeps lightening teeth for up to two weeks at the completion of treatment, but keeping those teeth bright and dazzling requires attention from the patient as well.
Knowing what foods and beverages or lifestyle habits yellowed your teeth before is important. Avoiding or limiting dark liquids known to stain dental enamel like coffee, tea, cola, and red wine is helpful. If you know you are going to consume something known to stain, try to either use a straw so the liquid bypasses the teeth as much as possible or try to brush/rinse your teeth as soon as you can to keep the liquid from staining.
Foods like berries, tomatoes, or beets have powerful staining capability. Again either avoid or limit their consumption or brush/rinse as soon as possible.
Tobacco use in all forms can yellow teeth. Keeping teeth and gums healthy, and your smile bright, are great motivators to give up smoking and tobacco use.
One important note, if any cosmetic dental work is to be done when considering teeth whitening, it is best to have teeth whitened first. That way your cosmetic dentist will be matching your new restoration to the color of whitened teeth. Just as porcelain is resistant to stain, it will not be affected by teeth whitening either.
Brushing and flossing daily are not only beneficial to keeping teeth bright, but this contributes to keeping teeth and gums healthy as well. Having teeth cleaned by your dental provider every six months allows the topical stains to be removed, teeth polished, and examined to make sure excellent oral health is maintained.
If teeth require a whitening touch-up, there are take-home kits available. It is important not to over-whiten, however, as teeth can sustain damage if whitening products are abused or misused.
Following the guidelines for teeth whitening and after treatment care should allow you to maintain your bright smile for a long, long time.
Contact our experienced cosmetic dentistry team to find out more about Zoom teeth whitening. Call 972-458-2464 for an appointment today.
