Tackling Your Dental Treatment Plan

If you have never whitened your teeth before, then you are likely very excited and ready to have beautiful white teeth after your treatment. Whether you are using an at-home whitening kit or having your teeth professionally whitened, ensuring a successful outcome and whiter teeth that stay white relies on these two little-known aftercare tips you should follow.

Don't Eat or Drink These Foods and Beverages for a Week After Whitening

After you whiten your teeth, they will be a little more porous for a week or two. This is due to the fact that whitening products temporarily strip a protective protein layer off your teeth. This is what causes some people to develop a little tooth-sensitivity for a few days after whitening. This increased porosity also allows your teeth to absorb a bit more of the beverages you drink and the fluid in the foods you eat, and if you imbibe in anything that gradually stains teeth, your teeth will absorb much more of it than usual and stain more quickly and easily.

So, to keep your new pearly whites as white as possible, skip the following foods and beverages that stain teeth for about a week after whitening:

• Beverages: Coffee, tea, red wine, fruit punch, dark-colored vegetable and fruit juices.
• Foods: Tomato sauce, snacks with orange-colored cheese powder, dark chocolate.

If you simply cannot stop drinking coffee or tea, then sip it through a straw while carefully ensuring it does not have much contact with your teeth when drinking it. This list also does not include every food and beverage that can stain, so when in doubt, skip any food or beverage you suspect may stain your new pearly whites. Don't worry, because you can enjoy them all again a week or two after whitening.

Also, skip acidic foods and beverages as much as you can until your enamel recovers, as the acidity may not only cause immediate pain when your teeth are still feeling sensitive, but the acids will hasten enamel recovery. Extremely acidic foods and beverages include citrus fruits and juices, soda, and lemon.

Help the Protein Layer Rebuild Quickly

Now that you know that the stripped protein layer is what can cause easier staining and tooth sensitivity after whitening, you can understand why helping your teeth rebuild this layer more quickly is beneficial.

The first step to helping your teeth recover quickly is to not brush directly after whitening; wait at least a few hours. However, you can rinse your mouth with a pH-balancing mouth rinse immediately after whitening to neutralize the acidity in your mouth. Then, after the rinse, apply a calcium-based desensitizing paste to your teeth. This not only helps prevent after-whitening sensitivity, but the calcium helps rebuild the protective layer of your teeth more quickly after it enters the pores of your teeth.

When you do brush several hours or a day after whitening, skip abrasive toothpastes, like those that contain baking soda. Instead, use a basic high-fluoride toothpaste when brushing, and brush gently with a very soft toothbrush. Follow with a fluoride mouth rinse, but skip any with a dark tint, such as blue, as these rinses with dark tints have been known to stain teeth.

Follow these guidelines after having your teeth whitened professionally or using an at-home whitening kit to keep stains from quickly returning and speed up tooth enamel recovery. If you're looking for a dentist in your area, visit Daniel Savini DDS.