Teeth Whitening Aftercare: Maintaining Your New Smile!

Professional teeth-whitening treatments can give you impressive results and a smile similar to what you see on TV. Unfortunately, the results aren’t permanent.

To keep your bright smile for longer, it’s crucial to make a few adjustments to your lifestyle. Check out these six tips to maintain your white smile:

1. Improve Your Oral Hygiene Habits

The most important thing to do to maintain your smile is to brush and floss your teeth daily. For even better results, consider brushing your teeth after every meal. 

This will remove bacteria and food particles from your mouth, reducing the risk of cavities and gum disease, which can also cause issues with how your teeth look. You can also use whitening toothpaste occasionally to brush up your color and remove more stubborn stains.

2. See a Dentist Routinely 

You won’t be able to remove all bacteria and food particles by yourself. But professional dental cleanings provide more thorough results.

They can also remove stains from the surface of your teeth and allow the dentist to inspect your mouth and spot cavities or other issues when they’re just appearing.

3. Stock up on Straws

If you drink tea, coffee, or beverages with artificial colors daily, you can expect your teeth to stain very quickly.

But you can reduce this risk if you drink these beverages through a straw. This limits the exposure and could help maintain your smile for longer. ‍

4. Drink More Water

If you can’t always brush, rinsing your mouth with tap water is a great way to protect your smile’s look and health.

Tap water is enriched with fluoride, which can coat the teeth and strengthen them. It can also remove stains from foods and drinks.

5. Avoid Staining Foods

Some foods are bad news for your smile’s color:

• Oranges
• Lemons
• Tomatoes (including juices and pasta sauces)
• Blueberries, etc.

While you don’t need to say goodbye to them forever, consider cutting back on them if you want whiter teeth for longer. You can also rinse with water or brush your teeth right after eating them to reduce staining.

6. Touch up Once a Year

These strategies can help maintain your smile, but they’re not foolproof. Still, if you do your best to make these changes, then you could get away with touching up your color just once a year or even once every two years.

These touch-up whitening appointments won’t be as complex as your initial treatment. You could refresh your color in just one appointment.

Professional Teeth Whitening at Nashoba Valley Dental 

Want to get your teeth whitened in Nashoba Valley or the surrounding areas? See Dr. Matthew Annese for a short consultation to find out if you’re a good candidate for this cosmetic procedure!

We provide both in-office and at-home whitening treatments for your convenience. Schedule a visit at Nashoba Valley Dental today!