Tooth whitening is popular among people wanting to enhance their appearance

In recent years, tooth whitening has become a huge phenomenon.  More and more people are opting for teeth whitening to improve their smile. After looking at near perfect teeth of Hollywood celebrities and models, men and women of all ages are now using different methods available for teeth whitening. Why?  It seems that whiter teeth give us a more youthful appearance.

Actually whiter teeth don’t make you physically healthier.  But we all like to look our best to feel good about ourselves, and that’s what this subject is all about.

Don’t smoke
The nicotine in tobacco leave stains on the surface of teeth.  So, if you want whiter teeth and you smoke, you need to stop.

Eat the right foods

An apple a day keeps the doctor- and the dentist – away
Apples are mildly acidic and have astringent qualities.  That combined with their rough, fiber-rich flesh, makes them a great food for cleansing and brightening teeth.

According to Jeff Golub-Evans, DDS, a cosmetic dentist at New York University, “Crunchy foods, including apples, carrots and celery act like little toothbrushes when you chew them, and they actually help scrub away stubborn stains over time. Their cleansing effect on your teeth may be noticeable–if ever so slightly–especially if you’re a coffee drinker who wasn’t eating apples every day to begin with.”

He adds, “If you start eating an apple a day as a between-meal snack and don’t get the chance to brush your teeth afterward, be sure to chase it with a glass of water to rinse away the sugar, acid, and any plaque it may have removed from your enamel.”

Baking soda for tooth brushing
We have been told that brushing your teeth with baking soda can whiten your teeth.  It’s inexpensive and handy.  Pick up a box at the grocery store.

Brush your teeth with strawberries
The astringent malic acid in strawberries helps buff away coffee and red-wine stains from your teeth. Just crush a few fresh strawberries into a pulp that you mix with a pinch of baking soda and enough water to make a paste. Apply the mixture to a soft-bristled toothbrush and polish for a few minutes once every 3 or 4 months. (Warning:  More often can erode tooth enamel.)

How do you choose a good commercial whitening product?
You can take several approaches to whiten your smile.  Here’s what the American Dental Association has to say.  Your options are:

• In-office bleaching
• At-home bleaching
• Whitening toothpastes

When selecting a whitener or any dental product, the ADA states that you should be sure to look for the ADA Seal of Acceptance—your assurance that they have met ADA standards of safety and effectiveness.

For most people, two types of products are used to achieve brighter teeth – those that contain peroxide (bleach) and those that don’t.

Peroxide-containing products
Home treatments involve using a tray molded to fit over teeth, holding the bleaching agent in place on the surface of the teeth.  Applying the agent to the tray and wearing or for a period of time each day should result in teeth that are lighter in appearance.

Stronger bleaching agents can be applied (often enhanced with lasers) by your dental professional in their office, accomplishing in a single visit what could require days of treatment at home.

The upside to whitening methods that use bleach is that they can be effective for surface as well as some internal staining.  The downside is that stray bleach can irritate surrounding gums, and the procedure can temporarily leave gums and teeth gender.

Non-bleach products – primarily whitening toothpastes – work by the action of polishes and chemicals to remove surface stains from the teeth when they are used regularly.  These toothpastes don’t have the irritating effect of the bleach-containing products, but they also won’t help improve the appearance of teeth that have internal stains.

Internet search results
If you do a search on the Internet at http://www.best-teeth-whitening.com/ you’ll find what looks like an unbiased evaluation of seven teeth whiteners with Celebrity Sexy Teeth as the best buy.  However, if you check other sites, they claim that this brush-on whitening product doesn’t do the job it’s supposed to.  The site is in reality an ad.

Go to Teeth Whitening Reviews to rate more than 20 products.  This site places Celebrity Sexy teeth on the low end of the scale.

Too bad
In a newly published systematic review from the Cochrane Collaboration, home-use tooth-whitening products were found to have short-term effectiveness in whitening teeth, but there is limited information on long-term outcomes and side effects. The systematic review received news coverage from WebMD, Medical News Today and other media outlets.

The bottom line from the American Dental Association
The ADA recommends that patients receive a thorough oral examination, performed by a licensed dentist, to determine the most appropriate whitening treatment. This allows the dentist to determine if the patient has any contraindications to the procedure and to supervise the use of bleaching agents within the context of a comprehensive, appropriately sequenced treatment plan.

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