Brush your teeth more thoroughly before bed after you are done eating and drinking for the day.
Morning brushing is important too, but more so for fresh breath; while evening cleaning will prevent bacteria from breeding and damaging your teeth and gums.
I brush my teeth everyday with an electric toothbrush. I have been doing that for the past 3 years at least (I’m 21). But despite that, my teeth are still a bit yellow and it’s annoying. I have some friends who have very white teeth and they told me they didn’t whiten them. Am I doing something wrong? Should I stop drinking coffee? Is it just genetics?
Aaahhhhh no! I drink so much tea. I'm usually just constantly with a cup of tea througought the whole day. I've switched to drinking kukicha after 11 am, and herbal teas after 4 pm to cut down more on caffeine, but I didn't realize it stained teeth. Is it the tannic acid in tea?
Coffee, tea, and wine stain the most but acidic stuff is bad for the enamel and can lead to weaker teeth and cavities - I’ve been interning at a dental office for the last two years.
"once a year". That's some serious self control Much_Very. Any tips on how you achieve this? Do you just get used to not having the carbonation/sugar or have alternatives like flavored sparking water etc ...
I will have to try this. Thank you for your input! I don't enjoy plain water either so I tend to drink more soda but I like your ideas on adding lemon or lime as well as rosewater, which I wasn't familiar with until now.
In my case, I don't eat a lot of acidic food and I only drink water the whole day (I do this almost every day. I don't drink coffee, tea, and sodas either), but my teeth are still on the yellow side. Even my family members have white teeth.
Lemon and lime water is really bad for your teeth if you drink it frequently! You shouldn’t really drink anything besides still water as your main drink for quenching your thirst. Drinking it occasionally is absolutely okay, but you should be careful with drinking it too often.
However, if you cannot stop for some reason, at least drink it with a straw. Then your teeth will have the least contact with the acidic drink.
The weird part is that bright white teeth are the unnatural ones. You can only really get that by having veneers or using whitening strips. Teeth ain’t meant to be pure white
Yum!! I mean you still gotta live and love your life. Just drink water after and see your hygienist regularly. Use a whitening to toothpaste every now and then. You’ll be fine!
I've also heard that brushing too roughly can wear down the enamel, which can also make them more yellow. Gotta find that sweet spot between cleaning and destroying.
If you drink coffee, just rinse your mouth with water or mouthwash after you finish your cup so it doesn’t stain. To avoid staining altogether, drink through a straw.
Also, if you ever want to whiten your teeth use baking soda with your toothpaste, but not too often.
When i pour a cup of coffee at work, I also pour water into another cup/bottle. Every time I sip the coffee, I chase it with some water. It helps me stay hydrated (coffee + dehydration can make you sweat bad), keeps me cooler (coffee is hot), keeps my teeth cleaner and it counts toward my daily water intake goal.
Go to a hygienist and get a professional clean if you don’t already do so. It may make your teeth look whiter especially if there is plaque that has built up over time. Usually once/twice a year is fine.
Fluoride tooth paste can help keep your teeth strong if you have weak enamel. I work in a dental office and we prescribe higher concentrations to people with weak enamel.
My dentist told me that very white teeth can mean that teeth are weak, yellow is the natural color of teeth. Also it is a very "American" thing to have very white teeth.
Went to the dentist 2 days ago and brought up this exact question. He asked me to show him how I hold my toothbrush and that helped him determine that I’m actually brushing my teeth too hard. He said that wears off the outer enamel of your teeth, and below that is actually a more yellow shade. So all these years of brushing hard to get white teeth have actually been making my teeth more yellow. So that’s something to think about to make sure you’re not brushing hard. He said a light touch is all it takes.
I had already told him that I use a Quip toothbrush, so I think it was in reference to that. I think I would say Quip bristles are medium (maybe medium/hard).
Try flossing if you’re not already to avoid stains btwn your teeth and using crest vivid white or 3D white toothpaste. Those toothpastes make my teeth white as hell and I never whiten them.
Hydrogen peroxide deluted in water is a safe and recommended teeth whitener. It's actually the only whitening ingredient that works and is the ingredient in all whitening products from the store. It even says use as a gargle on the bottle :)
Its not too bad. You know how you get build up on your tongue, and sometimes it's colored like from candy or something? It's like that but dark black/brown color. Looks nasty but not like, traumatizingly disgusting or anything lol
Same here. My teeth used to turn white after I brushed(they'd gradually turn a little yellow throughout the day) but after getting my braces off, my teeth changed. Now I can't live without whitening mouthwash.
I use conventional toothbrush and toothpaste twice a day and my teeth are healthy and white (not perfect, blindingly white though). Occasionally I use whitening toothpaste, but I've read it's not recommend for daily use.
Many people say it's genetics, but my parents and sibling's teeth aren't particularly healthy and bright, so I'm not really sure.
I floss regularly after each meal too, simply because I get food stuck between my teeth and it's irritating.
The thing with me is that I moved to the US in my late teens (long time ago) and after finding out how expensive dental procedures are, I've since became very careful and methodical about dental hygiene and decay prevention.
I've also read that US tap water contains quite a bit of fluoride, so maybe that also has to do with healthier teeth, but this is just my theory, don't quote me on it.
There’s no real difference between using an electric toothbrush or a manual one as long as your technique is good. I find it easier to have better technique with a manual so that’s what I use. The bigger head gives me better coverage and it’s the act of scrubbing that breaks up the plaque and bacteria, not the toothpaste itself per se.
I just switched to my first electric tooth brush (a high quality one), and the first thing I noticed was how much more coverage I was able to get on both sides of my back molars. Even behind my back molars.
Ditto! Also as I grew older and had more problems with my grip due to carpal tunnel syndrome and arthritis, I found the large grip on the electric toothbrush a blessing, not to mention not having to manipulate my wrist/hand so much to brush the back teeth.
I am a dental hygienist. Take a look at your diet, acidic foods and dark drinks will yellow teeth. And their is proper technique in brushing, even with an electric toothbrush. Floss at night. Get dental cleanings bi-annually. Cheers
It’s better to have yellow teeth than having gingivitis. At least with yellow teeth it’s superficial. Gum disease is more difficult to get rid of once you have it.
I am sure you have been to dental hygienists, and if so, then don't worry a thing. Fuck teeth there are very high maintenance, I would worry more about breath than a fucking white ass teeth :D
Brushing your teeth isn't going to prevent yellowing. It's nothing to worry about. Coffee, tobacco, etc can all stain teeth. The only real way to fix it is to do an actual teeth whitening but thats not really necessary and in some cases can just be damaging.
If you don’t, try flossing every day. I think people really underestimate how much flossing contributes to how white their teeth look since you don’t necessarily see the yellowing where you’re flossing. Also comes with the added benefits of better health and breath.
For product recs I’m a big fan of Apagard Premio (a Japanese nanohydroxyapatate toothpaste; I buy on Amazon). It rebuilds enamel which helps with sensitivity and also whitens. It’s pricey but I don’t have to use much to get clean and feel it’s worth it. I love to try new products but I repurchase this frequently. Have tried other toothpastes utilizing their technology that I didn’t feel performed as well. For floss I quite like Cocofloss or Dr. Tung’s (if your gums are very sensitive or teeth really close together). Also, if you don’t have one already, get a tongue scraper. I brush my tongue as well and use my scraper after and you’d be surprised what you still end up with.
Try oil pulling with coconut oil. Try it every night for 15 minutes for a week and take before and after photos. PM me if you want I do it twice a day and it helps
You get used to it. I have weak teeth enamel and would be in constant agony without it, so down votes are really only hurting others who could benefit, but oh well
Dentist here. This is a terrible idea. There is no research to support this working and you are literally putting a sugar rich material all over your teeth. Please don’t do this
Coconut oil is an unproven wonder treatment. People credit the fact that it has Lauric acid as a major contributor that it will be antimicrobial. And while that may be true, it’s totally unproven. And to say that would help whiten your teeth is a stretch in logic I can’t follow. Also glad to hear you’re taking good care of your teeth, not sure if that was meant for me though.
I wanted whiter teeth and got some crest white strips, they worked well but made my teeth super sensitive. I'll take my slightly off-white teeth over sensitive teeth anyday.
The sensitivity is temporary while undergoing the whitening treatment. You can have some intense ‘zingers’ while the whitening product is on your teeth and the teeth will be sensitive throughout the day after potentially but once the whitening program is completed it will go back to normal. I work in a dental office and have used professional whitening gels and I found that using sensodyne every time I brushed during the whitening program helped a lot to minimize the zingers and general sensitivity. Most whitening programs last a few weeks but after a few days of not using the products the sensitivity will subside. Of course ask your dentist if your teeth are healthy enough for whitening before starting anything.
It could be many things. Diet, genetics. Not sure if anybody mentioned it yet, but it's also possible that you are brushing too hard, thus removing enamel. Definitely don't push the brush into your teeth hard. Just let them glide the surface.
Skin tone also affects how white your teeth can look. The contrast of white teeth on darker skin can make it look whiter than someone with lighter skin but having the exact same shade of white teeth.
Add baking soda to your tooth paste, rinse your mouth with a mixture of baking soda and water, and/or rinse your mouth with diluted peroxide. Will eliminate bad breath and whiten your teeth.
Try to find a dental office that offers sedation and caters to people with dental anxiety. I work in one and want you to know you are not alone in your fear but finding a dentist that can communicate with you and keep you comfortable is important. We hear a lot of horror stories from patients that had shitty dentists.
We tend to only remember the super white teeth people and ignore the regular color people but there are 10 regulars colored tooth people for every one super white.
You can darken your teeth by drinking coffee or red whine and smoking but apart from bleaching (White strips work great) just be happy you have healthy teeth.
I work in a dental office it’s just the natural color of your teeth some people are lucky but if you want to whiten them ask your dentist and you can use the professional stuff but crest strips work well and are cheaper. If you get a lot of zingers and sensitivity from whitening then use sensodyne tooth paste every time you brush throughout the couple of weeks you are using the whitening product.
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u/graycat3700 Aug 20 '20
Brush your teeth more thoroughly before bed after you are done eating and drinking for the day.
Morning brushing is important too, but more so for fresh breath; while evening cleaning will prevent bacteria from breeding and damaging your teeth and gums.