Whiter smiles...

Ever on time for your dental check-ups?
I don't know about others but most of the people i know will never stick to the every six month visit to their dentist.
Same goes for me. Although an effort was being concerted for the twice a year check-ups but being human, i do take things for granted sometimes.
Its either I'd missed it by few months later or realised I'm in grave need for tooth brightening due to my excessive coffee intake and smoking, proud to say its on a-stick-a-day basis already.

Since my last visit to the dentist last Octobre for root canal due to ten years ago impact on my two front teeth when i fell on my face, I'm thinking of having my teeth bleached. I had done bleaching or whitening twice and the last one wasn't quite a good experience for me. For one, the procedures were quite uncomfortable, probably due to that particular dentist technique, and having my jaw wide open for that lenght of time was very tiring and painful.
The ultimate one that the dentist did was telling me if i ever want to have whiter teeth, i must not drink coffee or tea, eat curry, or turmeric based curries, and all sort of that nonsense; besides, that i hated him and his poker face ( he is the replacement of my usual dentist who migrated overseas).

Now I'm thinking to have it done here.
I don't know how these dentist will conduct their bleaching technique though.
While i wanted to try several products out in the market that claim can whiten the teeth, I wonder if they are safe to use? After all, we ingest much of what is on them by the mere fact that they are inside your mouth.
I have also used smokers tooth paste but stop after few years of using it when i read something unwanted about the chemicals in them.

Even that, come to think of it, the toothpaste that we put in our mouth twice daily, do we really know what kinds of health effects they can have.
Meantime, i do know after reading about natural ways to whiten the.
It is homemade and cheap.

1. Bicarbonate of soda - Brush your teeth with bicarbonate of soda just 5 minutes before brushing your teeth with normal toothpaste in the morning. You should see an improvement after several weeks.
(we do use this to wash our veges and fruits)

2. Baking soda and hydrogen peroxide - Mix these together to form a toothpaste and efficiently brush your teeth regularly with this paste. It should remove all stains in a month.
(i know hydrogen peroxide can discoloured the hair!!)

3. Orange Peel Rub the inside of an orange peel (the white part) against your teeth and this should help in you teeth whitening treatment.

4. Apple cider vinegar (ACV) - Brush your teeth every night with apple cider vinegar. This is known to be an effective home remedy for teeth whitening.
(i know my mom used to drink this when she was a young mom to help keep the body slim- i never try it though)

5. Ash - Brushing your teeth with hard wood ash is also beneficial as it contains a teeth whitener – potassium hydroxide. It may not be the most tasty but it’s effective.
(i know this from my mom's childhood stories)

6. Your diet matters - Certain foods you eat help your teeth stay nice and white: celery, apples and carrots clean your teeth naturally by way of chewing vigorously, and other foods like lettuce, strawberries, lemons, broccoli and spinach prevent staining by either creating a sort of film that protects your teeth from stains or cleans them well.

7. Brush! - To prevent discoloration and permanent staining of your teeth brush after every meal.
(i know one guy who does this- every meal! I mean its totally 'hard' but undoubtedly he got damn beautiful smile)

8. Lemon juice and salt - Mix the two to create a paste and apply to yellowing spots on teeth. It’s been reported that this is one of the most effective home remedies for teeth whitening.

9. Avoid excessive consumption of coffee, tea, red wine, carbonated drinks and smoking.

10. Lemon - Dip your toothbrush in lemon juice and brush your teeth well. This is also effective home remedy for teeth whitening. And refreshing, too!