Tips to maintain the teeth white after whitening treatment

Whitening treatment is done by people of all ages to remove stains from the teeth and to make the teeth more fair. The most common reasons why people go for whitening treatment is that it is apt for:

● Removing tobacco and other liquid stains.
● Helps smoothen the tooth enamel and makes it white.

Despite being a very popular procedure, a lot of people don’t have much information on what needs to be done after the treatment has been undertaken due to a lack of awareness. The main reason why you should take great care of your teeth immediately after the operation is that the pores in your teeth open up during the whitening operation and hence your teeth will be more vulnerable to discolouration during this critical period. The pores take quite a while to close and you need to be extra cautious in what you eat/drink during this period. Here in this article, let us talk about what needs to be done after the tooth whitening operation:

Short term(till 72 hours after operation):

● Avoid foods that stain your teeth like coffee, tea, fruit juices and alcohol.
● Avoid sweets, chocolate and red meat. Dark chocolate in addition to caffeine, contains substances that may spoil the appearance of teeth. Whilst ice cream in general needs to be avoided, vanilla ice cream would be an exception and a safe option to go with.
● Avoid smoking for 48 hours after the treatment to prevent blemishing your teeth.
● Avoid food that is powdered with cheese and masala as they may cause a mess in your teeth and discolour them.

The foods that can be consumed are as follows:

● White rice, pasta, cheese, cauliflower, Bread, Yogurt, Skinless chicken and any food that doesn’t blemish your teeth.
● Regarding drinks, you still are left with a horde of options(water, lemonade, milk, coconut water and diluted alcohol). If you are in the mood to drink alcohol, white wine is a good option to go with.
● You can substitute red meat with white meat in your diet.

Whilst all these precautions are quite useful in the early days after treatment, it is important to remember in the long term, there are a myriad of habits that you need to adopt to keep your tooth shiny.

Medium term to Long term:

● Brush your mouth daily and floss at least once every two days to keep your tooth blemish free.
● Use a toothpaste that is rich in fluoride.
● Undergo regular dental checkups every six months.
● Avoid soda whenever possible.
● Use oil to swish your mouth whenever possible to remove toxins and bacteria.
● Use baking soda(in your paste) and hydrogen peroxide to remove germs and reduce the acidic nature in your oral region.
● Use apple cider vinegar as a disinfectant in your mouth to get rid of bacteria. Apple cider vinegar also contributes in making your teeth shinier.
● Rich diet consisting of abundant fruits and vegetables as they not only help with your teeth but are also good oxidants and delays aging.
● Limiting sugar in your diet as they are known to cause proliferation of bacteria in your mouth.

Adopting these practices will not only make your teeth fairer and shinier, it will also contribute immensely to your oral health. Never hesitate to consult a dentist if you face issues on your teeth. Delaying would only cause the issue to fester longer.