A smile can brighten up a face and make people instantly more attractive. It can even help you gain new friends, land that big job offer, or extend positive vibes that words just can’t capture. Plus, smiling is contagious. It can immediately elevate your mood—and the mood of others—especially in trying times.
Keep Your Smile Glowing
The magic of a smile works wonders. That’s probably why many people spend a lot of time and money to improve their teeth. From getting braces to using teeth whitening kits, there are so many options on how to jazz up those pearly whites. In-office teeth whitening treatments can even provide fast and visible results. Depending on the shade of your teeth, you can leave the office with a bigger and brighter smile.
But dental hygiene doesn’t always equal a trip to the dentist’s office. There are plenty of options to enhance your smile from the comfort of your home. By developing healthy oral habits, you can maintain or even improve the color and condition of your teeth. You can then easily keep your smile glowing.
Start with These Dental Hygiene Tips
1. Eat detergent foods.
What are those? Detergent foods are fibrous foods that can help clean your teeth as you eat them. Convenient, right? Apples, lettuce, celery, raw carrots, and popcorn belong in this category. Try munching on a few of these treats after a hearty meal to gently “brush” any unwanted debris. Apart from physically scrubbing your teeth clean, detergent foods also help increase saliva production. Saliva naturally helps keep food from getting stuck on your teeth and balances the pH in your mouth.
2. Use apple cider vinegar.
Really? Vinegar for cleaning teeth? Well, apple cider vinegar is not just any ordinary sour condiment. Apple cider vinegar has antibacterial properties, which means it can help keep your mouth free from plaque-causing bacteria. Some dental problems, including bad breath and tooth decay, may be attributed to bacterial overgrowth. So try using apple cider vinegar as a mouthwash after meals.
After using apple cider vinegar as mouthwash, make sure to gargle with water to remove any excess liquid. If the flavor is too strong, you can dilute apple cider vinegar with water before use.
3. Don’t forget to floss!
Flossing is such a simple tip, yet it’s often overlooked and underappreciated. In a 2020 survey, about 60% of the participants admitted they don’t floss at all. Some of them said they find dental flosses hard to maneuver. Others said they were reluctant to floss because they feared their gums would bleed.
But note that it’s normal to see blood when you floss. Regularly flossing your teeth will eventually lessen the chance you have of experiencing bleeding gums. Also, you only need to floss once a day. If you think it takes too much of your time, try dividing this oral hygiene habit into parts. The upper half can be done in the morning and the lower teeth in the evening (or vice versa).
4. Being picky with your toothpaste is a good thing.
Nowadays, there are too many dental products with suspicious or unnecessary ingredients. Some types of whitening toothpaste, for instance, have different chemicals to help people achieve a lightening effect. Abrasive ingredients can effectively lighten teeth. But they also strip the enamel of their outer layer, which may cause harm over time. There are safer teeth whitening kits in Australia for people who want to correct any discolorations in their teeth. For instance, SmileBar offers affordable teeth whitening treatments that use LED technology and the highest grade professional whitening gel on the market.
5. Rinse with water.
Brushing teeth after eating isn’t always helpful and feasible. At the very least, you should thoroughly rinse your mouth with water to remove any food stuck in your teeth. That habit, alone, can also remove bacteria in your mouth without the forces of over-brushing that can sometimes damage your enamel.
Get a Brighter Smile Today
With a bit of patience, you can find time to improve your dental hygiene habits. But if you need help taking better control of your oral habits and keeping your smile glowing, you can turn to professionals.
Fortunately, in Australia, teeth whitening and other professional dental health services are quite affordable and practical. Besides helping you achieve a gorgeous smile, dental care will keep your teeth, tongue, and gums healthy. Those are enough reasons not to skip your next visit to the dental clinic.
Want to start with teeth whitening? Give us a call today.
