Everyone wants a bright, white smile. Regular brushing and flossing can help your teeth stay healthy and prevent plaque buildup. However, brushing alone cannot keep your teeth pearly white. To remove the ugly stains and yellowing, there are some techniques you can use at home to whiten your teeth.
What Causes Teeth to Become Discolored
Even though you brush and floss regularly, your teeth may still be discolored. Proper hygiene is important, but it may not give you the white teeth that you desire. Many factors can cause your teeth to yellow.
The top reasons for yellow, brown, and gray teeth:
- Foods and Drinks: The foods and drinks that you consume can play a major role in the decolorization of your teeth. If it can stain a cloth, it can stain your teeth. Some such culprits are coffee, tea, wine, soda, berries and tomatoes.
- Use of Tobacco Products: Smoking and using chewing tobacco can stain your teeth.
- Certain Medications: Medications have all types of side effects. For some medications, one of these is teeth discoloration.
- Excessive Fluoride Use: Fluoride is often added to water and toothpaste to help strengthen tooth enamel. However, too much fluoride can cause discoloration and streaking.
- Genetics: People that are born with thicker tooth enamel often have whiter smiles. If your enamel is thin, your smile may appear to be more yellow.
- Severe Illnesses: Severe illnesses can cause teeth to yellow.
- Injuries to the Teeth: Young children that experience an injury to a tooth can have damaged enamel. This can cause the tooth to look gray. Adults that injure or grind their teeth can experience yellowing.
- Age: As you age, your enamel thins, leading to decolorization.
Home Techniques for Home Teeth Whitening
Having discolored teeth can make you feel insecure. It may even stop you from smiling openly. If you are feeling self-conscious about your smile, there are things you can do at home to help whiten your teeth.
Eat the Right Foods
Eating the wrong foods can stain your teeth, but the right ones can help whiten them. Add foods such as apples, carrots, celery, cucumbers and lettuce to your diet.
Use a Good Toothpaste
Not all whitening toothpastes are the same. Before purchasing a toothpaste, do a little research. Some companies add ingredients to their toothpaste that can damage enamel with regular use.
Brush with Baking Soda
Baking soda is added to many brands of toothpaste because of its whitening properties, but it can be abrasive and can cause damage to the enamel if your brush too vigorously or use it too often. Make sure to do research and ask your dentist if a baking soda toothpaste is right for you.
Use Hydrogen Peroxide
Hydrogen Peroxide whitens teeth and kills bacteria. To use hydrogen peroxide, dilute it and add it to your mouthwash or to your toothpaste or baking soda. Just as with many tooth whitening options, hydrogen peroxide use needs to be limited. It can irritate your gums and damage enamel when misused.
Whitening Strips
Whitening strips are very effective for teeth whitening. This is because they contain hydrogen peroxide. Beware: overuse of whitening strips can lead to damage to your teeth so it’s best to talk to your dentist.
Consult Your Dentist
Before you try at-home treatments for home whitening, it is best to consult with your dentist. We can offer you advice on safe ways of improving your smile without causing permanent damage. The overuse of whitening products is common, but with proper instructions, you can do it safely.
People that have receding gumlines, enamel erosion, extreme thinning, or severe decay may need to improve their oral health before starting a whitening program.
For professional results, ask us about our teeth whitening systems. At Dental Group of Simi Valley, our friendly staff can give you the smile you desire.
Benefits of Professional Teeth Whitening
- long-lasting results
- safe for teeth
- choose your shade of white
- stronger than at-home treatments
- visible results
Consult the Experts in Simi Valley
If you are interested in trying at-home 
whitening treatments, call us to discuss your options. Just because whitening treatments are available does not mean they are safe for your teeth. Let us perform an examination and see which options are best for you.
Dental Group of Simi Valley is conveniently located at 1720 E. Los Angeles Ave., Suite 202,
Simi Valley, CA 93065. You can contact us at 805-522-6020. We look forward to speaking to you about your dental needs.
