Teeth Whitening – Causes and Cures for Yellow Teeth

Now, who would like to be called ‘Yellow, Yellow, Dirty Fellow’ and walk around, smiling and showing off his/her set of YELLOW teeth! Gosh! That could be embarrassing! (Unless you are like really crazy about gold and have made a set of gold dentures for yourself! 😀 That would look hilarious! he..he..)

Remember those Close-Up advertisements, where they would show a model with perfectly white teeth and then there would be a spark shown on one of the tooth, just to emphasize on the ‘Sparkly Whiteness’ of their teeth? Well, am not too sure if there will be sparks flying when we smile, but I could surely tell you a few ways on how to keep our teeth clean and white…

 

A Little About What Causes the Yellow-ish Tint in Our Teeth:

Watch What You Put in Your Mouth!

Well, that romantic red wine, those tempting colas and that much-needed coffee can be some common culprits for teeth discoloration. Those tasty sauces like tomato ketchup, mustard and sweet chili sauce may be causing yellowness in our teeth. In general, acidic food would cause teeth stains.

Smoking is Injurious to Health!
Well, it’s definitely injurious to your teeth. Tobacco is one of the most common culprits for teeth stains and causes a host of other diseases as well.

Clean-Up and Shine, Baby!
Well, we all know the importance of Personal Hygiene here. We need to check on our Oral Hygiene regularly too, to avoid dental complications, as well as achieve shiny white teeth!

Don’t Pop That Pill!
Watch before you take antibiotics the next time around, chemicals like Tetracycline and Doxycycline are antibiotics which are known to cause tooth discolouration, especially in children!

Mouth washes may leave you with a fresh breath, but it contains Chlorhexidine and Cetylpyridinium Chloride, that are harmful to the color of our teeth.

Oh! It Runs in the Family. 🙁

Well, lets all hope and pray that all our ancestors were born with Strong White teeth, as the genes we inherit from them could decide our teeth colour, apparently. Strange, huh?

Sigh! Am Getting Old!

As we age, the enamel, which is the outer layer of our teeth slowly fades away, to reveal the natural inner yellow-ish colour, thereby giving it a yellow tint.

What can we do to get those Whitie-whites??

Now that we know what can be the possible causes of teeth discoloration, let’s read on to find out how we can cure it.

Follow a Good Oral Hygiene:

This includes brushing our teeth 2 times daily – morning and night. Washing our mouth after every meal/snack is recommended. Use Dental Floss, Mouth Freshners and Tongue Cleaners to ensure complete Oral Hygiene. Setting up professional teeth cleanings with the dentist once in every 6-8 months could also be a good idea.

Teeth whitening Procedures:

This could be a procedure done at the local dentist’s clinic or done at the comfort of your home, using some take-home whitening kits dispensed by the dentist. There are also several Over-The-Counter teeth whitening products that are available in the pharmacies these days. While these are cost effective and convenient, care should be taken to choose the right product from a reputed brand.
In case of severe discoloration dentists would recommend procedures like Composite bonding, Crowns and Veneers.

Home Remedies:

Well, this is the best option according to me. 🙂 Side-effects are almost nil and it shows results as well to a certain extent. Most of you may already be aware of these, but for the uninitiated, here are a few common home remedies to brighten up your smiles!

Baking Soda and Lemon Paste: We all know that both soda as well as lemon helps in fading away stains and hence would be an effective whitening combo for our teeth. Mix both to form a paste, apply on a tooth brush and gently run it on the teeth. Leave it there for a minute or so and rinse off. A word of caution here, this paste should not be used regularly as baking soda essentially scrubs away the outer layer of our teeth.

Strawberry, Baking Soda and Salt: Strawberries are a rich source of Vitamin C. Mash a strawberry or two, add a pinch of Salt and add half a teaspoon of Baking soda. Your whitening scrub is ready to use! Scrub it on the teeth and let it sit there for around 4-5 minutes. Rinse off.

Orange Peel: Yeah..We can do an Orange Peel for our teeth as well! Just rub Orange Peel over your teeth every night before hitting the bed. The Vitamin C in the Orange Peel will help fight micro-organisms through the night, thereby aiding brighter teeth.

As they say ‘A smile is a woman’s best curve’. So let’s flash that curve and rock the world!

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