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Three Teeth Whitening Strategies You Can Try At Home

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Teeth whitening in the dentist's office is somewhat of a last resort when you cannot get whitening results any other way. Rather than continuously use whitening kits you can buy off of store shelves, which are quite expensive, there are a few other things you can try first. These methods are older and less costly than a kit or a visit to the dental office, but they may give you the results you are looking for.

Eating Lots of Strawberries

This is probably the most delicious way to whiten teeth, especially if you love strawberries. You do have to eat them straight, without sugar, chocolate or any type of coating. (Otherwise, it is not healthy for your teeth and will not do as much to whiten them.) The natural fruit acids in strawberries combined with the strawberry seeds scrub, polish and consume stains on your teeth. You need to eat about one cup of strawberries after every meal or after you drink coffee or wine. Additionally, the vitamin C in strawberries is excellent for tooth and gum health, a side benefit to polishing with the fruit.

Baking Soda Paste

Although some toothpastes now include baking soda to help whiten your teeth, it is a relatively small amount in contrast to brushing with straight baking soda. Here are the steps to using this simple kitchen ingredient to whiten your teeth:

  • Add a few drops of water to a tablespoon of baking soda to make a paste.
  • Use the paste with an electric toothbrush to maximize the scrubbing efforts of baking soda.
  • Polish with this simple paste after you have already brushed your teeth and definitely after you smoke, drink coffee or wine, or eat foods that have a tendency to stain teeth, e.g., blueberries.

If you really want to whiten your teeth at home, try the baking soda method with the following method.

Hydrogen Peroxide

The activating ingredient in many teeth whitening kits, pastes and mouthwashes is hydrogen peroxide. Since many people do not read the labels of hygiene products, they do not know that they are paying $6 for a $1 bottle of hydrogen peroxide. Avoid the hype of the tooth whitening aisle and just buy a bottle of peroxide from the first aid aisle instead. When you use your homemade paste of baking soda and water and then rinse with peroxide on a daily basis, your teeth will be much whiter and cost you far less than all of those specialty dental products.

When a Professional Whitening Is Best

When you cannot achieve the results you seek for blazing white teeth and you cannot give up smoking, wine or coffee for whiter teeth, then it is time to visit a dentist like one from Advanced Family Dental Care LLC. He or she uses some of the exact same methods mentioned above, only they are dental grade products and get past the enamel layer to the dentin of your teeth. Here, the dental grade products clean the stains and keep your teeth cleaner for much longer between whitenings.


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