There’s something about a gleaming white smile that’s so attractive, and as a result a lot of people decide to get their teeth professionally whitened by a dentist in order to keep their teeth looking their best. After you’ve had this treatment, you’ll naturally want to keep your teeth looking as white as possible and in that case, there are some foods and drinks that you should definitely think about adding to your diet to help you achieve this. Here are the best food and drink that will help keep your teeth white, as well as a few red flags to avoid.
- Strawberries: Eating strawberries can help prevent discolouration as they are full of malic acid – this helps to stimulate saliva which rinses your teeth naturally as you eat – so yes, they really are mouth-watering and that’s a good thing!
- Nuts and seeds: Just like you would exfoliate your skin, there are certain foods that help to remove surface stains on your teeth due to the gentle abrasive texture you get when chewing them. Nuts and seeds also have less sugar making them a tooth-friendly treat, just make sure to floss afterwards to remove any residual food fragments which could irritate gums.
- Apples: Crunchy foods, like apples, celery and green beans will help to keep your teeth white as you chew them, and the second benefit of this is that it also massages your gums at the same time which encourages blood flow and keeps your gums healthy. After all, you can’t have healthy teeth without healthy gums.
- Hard cheese: Dairy is a great source of calcium which is essential for strong teeth and bones, and eating cheese can also reduce the loss of essential minerals found in tooth enamel thanks to the presence of casein, a milk protein common in cheese.
- Water: Of course, you need to stay hydrated but drinking still water will also help to rinse away any stains on your teeth after you eat. Just stay away from sparkling water as this isn’t so tooth friendly.
Foods and drinks to avoid
For shiny white teeth, there are obviously as many foods to avoid as there are to include in your diet and you’ll probably be aware of most of them – tea, coffee, red wine, blueberries, cranberries for starters. In order to maintain a healthy white smile you also need to take care of your gums, so smoking is definitely not recommended
After your professional teeth whitening treatment, make sure you brush, floss and use mouth wash daily to maintain your smile. We recommend the Colgate Max White professional take home whitening system which will help to remove tooth discolouration when you use it for 30 minutes a day. Colgate Max White professional can be used for about a week to achieve your desired result, and then used from time to time to keep your teeth white.
If you need any additional advice or want to talk to a professional about how to improve your smile with any of our cosmetic dentistry procedures, just give us a call.
