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Have you ever wondered why some people have dull and yellow teeth, while others have bright, white smiles? It’s not luck.

Everyone’s teeth naturally dull over time because of aging and the contact our teeth experience with staining foods, such as chocolate and coffee. However, teeth-whitening treatments can give you the whiter smile you’ve been after.

Get Regular Treatments

Unfortunately, the effects of teeth-whitening or bleaching treatments are only temporary, but regular treatments at Dr. Steven DeCasperis, DMD can help keep your teeth white for much longer.

The effects of in-office bleaching can last for several months to a year, so you may prefer to repeat your use of at-home bleaching kits every few months to maintain your white teeth. Whitening toothpastes do not contain bleach and are safe to use every day.

Have Realistic Expectations

Not everyone’s teeth can be turned bright white. Some just don’t respond to whitening treatments. If your teeth are a light yellowish color, they may readily respond to teeth-whitening procedures, but bleach will not likely work on grayish teeth. Brownish teeth tend to fall somewhere in between.

Practice Good Oral Hygiene

For the best whitening results, it’s necessary to keep your teeth in good health. Visible fillings, implants, or bridges that are metallic stand out against the white color you’ll want to achieve.

Maintaining good oral hygiene will help you avoid tooth decay and keep your smile bright. In addition to brushing your teeth twice a day, these actions can help promote a healthy mouth:

• Floss every day
• Visit our Lebanon, NJ office every six months for professional cleanings
• Rinse your mouth with water after each meal and snack
• Limit sugary and starchy foods and beverages that can stain teeth, especially between meals

Is this a trick question? After all, you probably already know quite a lot about cavities:

• It all begins when bacteria-filled plaque sticks to teeth and starts to attack enamel. How?
• Because the bacteria in plaque use the sugars and other foods we eat to produce acids.
• These acids gradually weaken teeth by dissolving minerals which help make up our enamel (a process called demineralization).
• Over time, a hole, or cavity, develops in the tooth surface.
• Left untreated, bacterial decay can spread to the inside of the tooth, creating a more serious cavity.

Some cavities aren’t discovered until you visit our Lebanon, NJ office, but sometimes there are clear signs that there’s a problem.

• You have tooth pain or sensitivity.
• Your tooth changes color in spots where the enamel has decayed.
• You might even notice enamel loss when a cavity is large enough.

So, if you have any of these symptoms, it’s a cavity, right? It might be—but it might not. Sometimes, because the symptoms are similar, what we suspect is a cavity is really enamel erosion.

The bacteria-created acids weaken enamel. But it’s not just bacteria that subject our teeth to acids—we do it ourselves with our choice of food and drink. Acidic foods are one of the leading causes of tooth erosion.

Our normal saliva pH level is around a 7, which is neutral. Any number lower is acidic; any number higher is alkaline. Acidic foods have a low pH (the pH of lemon juice, for example, measures between 2 and 3), and can reduce our normal, neutral pH level. When saliva pH levels drop to 5.5 or lower, tooth enamel starts to demineralize, just as it does when exposed to the acids from oral bacteria.

Regularly snacking on citrus and other acidic fruits, wine, fruit juices, flavored teas, sour candies, and other acidic foods can cause enamel erosion. Especially erosive are sports drinks, energy drinks, and colas, because they contain some combination of citric acid, phosphoric acid and/or carbonation.

The symptoms of tooth erosion and damaged enamel can be very similar to those caused by cavities:

• You suffer tooth pain or sensitivity
• Your teeth appear discolored, as the enamel thins to reveal the yellowish dentin underneath
• You notice missing enamel—your teeth become rounded or have little pits known as cupping

You call Dr. DeCasperis right away if you suspect a cavity. Be just as proactive if you suspect erosion. Even though your symptoms may not have been caused by plaque and bacteria, acidic erosion from your diet leaves weakened enamel just as vulnerable to cavities and decay.

How to avoid erosion?

• Enjoy acidic foods sparingly, or as part of a meal. This helps your saliva pH stay in the neutral zone.
• Balance acidic foods with low-acid choices to help neutralize acids and restore a normal pH balance. (A good reason to pair wine or fruits with cheese.)
• Use a straw! This simple solution keeps erosive drinks from bathing your teeth in acids.
• Drink water instead of an acidic beverage, or drink it afterward to rinse your mouth. The pH of pure water? A perfect, neutral 7.
• And what about brushing right after eating or drinking something acidic? Ask Dr. DeCasperis if you should rush for your brush. We may recommend waiting 30 minutes or so after an acidic treat to give teeth time to remineralize after acids weaken them. Otherwise, brushing might cause more wear and tear on your enamel.
• Finally, while foods are often the source of acid erosion, medical conditions can cause erosion as well. Talk to us about ways to minimize erosion while addressing your medical needs.

There’s no trick to it—watching your diet, brushing and flossing as recommended, using a fluoride toothpaste, and visiting Dr. Steven DeCasperis, DMD for regular checkups will help prevent tooth erosion. We can restore eroded enamel with bonding, veneers, or crowns if the erosion is serious. Better still is to catch erosion before symptoms appear to keep your teeth their strongest for a lifetime of healthy, beautiful smiles.

That’s a good question! But first, we’re going to do that roundabout thing where we consider other questions before circling back to our original topic. Trust us, we’ll get there!

• Why Get Your Teeth Cleaned Professionally?

Before you consider how often to have your teeth cleaned, you might be wondering why you need to have them cleaned professionally at all. After all, you’re doing all the right things. You brush twice a day for two minutes each time. You floss at least once a day. You even use a soft-bristled brush to protect your enamel. Shouldn’t this be good enough?

Conscientious dental hygiene at home is a very good thing, but, when it comes to plaque and tartar, it might not be good enough. Plaque, especially between the teeth and along the gum line, is easy to miss. In a matter of days, that overlooked plaque hardens and becomes tartar. While you can do a lot to remove food particles and plaque at home, once plaque hardens into tartar, a professional cleaning is necessary to remove it safely.

• Why Worry About Plaque and Tartar You May Have Missed?

Because you want to avoid cavities and gum disease. You know that the bacteria in plaque cause tooth decay, but did you know that plaque and tartar can be a real problem for your gum health as well? Plaque and tartar irritate delicate gum tissue, causing inflammation and gingivitis (mild gum disease). If you have chronic bad breath, if your gums are swollen, red, or painful, if your gums bleed easily when you’re brushing and flossing, you might have gingivitis.

Left untreated, mild gum disease can become periodontitis, a more serious condition. Irritation and inflammation cause gum tissue to pull away from the teeth, forming deep periodontal pockets where bacteria and infection spread. Infection and inflammation response damage the bone and tissue supporting the teeth, and teeth become loose or lost altogether. In fact, periodontal disease is the leading cause of tooth loss in adults.

A professional cleaning at our Lebanon, NJ is one of the preventive steps you can take to reduce your risk of gum disease.

• What Happens During a Cleaning?

First, your teeth and gums will be checked carefully to see if there are any problems that we need to address before the procedure begins.

The first step in cleaning usually involves removing plaque and tartar. This may be done with an ultrasonic scaler, a hand scaler, or a combination of both. Plaque and tartar need to be scraped from tooth enamel above and below the gum line to prevent cavities and gum disease, so this is definitely a job for a dental professional. Gum attachment around the teeth will be checked, and shallow pockets will be cleaned. Your dentist will have suggestions if you have deeper periodontal pockets caused by gum disease.

After all the plaque and tartar have been removed, your teeth will be polished with a gentle abrasive to remove surface stains. There are two common methods of polishing: applying a special gritty toothpaste with a small rotating cup, or air polishing, which uses a stream of fine abrasive powder, water, and pressurized air. (If you have your teeth cleaned more than twice a year, your dentist will let you know if polishing is advisable during every visit.)

Next, flossing. A professional flossing will remove any remaining plaque from between the teeth. This is a good time to double check your own flossing technique and ask for any tips which will make your personal flossing more effective.

Finally, after rinsing, a fluoride treatment might be applied to strengthen your enamel, and you’re good to go. The entire process usually takes between 30-60 minutes.

• So, How Often Should You Have Your Teeth Cleaned?

That is a good question, and we did get there! But we don’t have just one answer for you. As with every aspect of your dental care, Dr. DeCasperis will recommend cleaning treatments and procedures with your specific dental needs in mind.

• If your teeth and gums are healthy, and you don’t have periodontal disease or risk factors for periodontal disease (such as smoking, a family history of gum disease, or medical conditions such as diabetes), you might be able to get by with two cleanings each year.
• If you have a history of periodontal disease, or are at higher risk for periodontal disease because of one or more risk factors, Dr. DeCasperis might recommend more than two cleanings each year.

Professional cleanings play an important role in your preventive dental care. Whether it’s done once a year, twice annually, or more often as needed, a cleaning performed by a dental professional takes only a short amount of your time and provides you with long-term benefits—not only a brighter smile, but healthier teeth and gums!

We all want our best and brightest smiles, and today there are many options we can explore at home to make those beautiful smiles a reality. Whether it’s healthy habits, a healthy diet, whitening toothpaste, or do-it-yourself home products, we have golden opportunities to achieve whiter teeth.

• Healthy Habits

Proper brushing is the first step in keeping your teeth stain-free. You should devote at least two minutes twice a day to brushing, being careful to cover the areas between and at the base of teeth, where plaque you miss can form visible tartar. Ask us about the most effective brushing techniques. And please, don’t smoke. Smoking is one of the worst offenders when it comes to discoloring teeth. If you are a smoker, quitting at any point in your life will make a big difference in the whiteness of your smile—and your lasting health!

• Healthy Eating

We all know red wine, coffee, and tea cause some of our worst enamel stains. Acidic drinks such as sodas and citrus beverages can cause even more problems by eroding tooth enamel, exposing the yellowish dentin underneath. Moderation and rinsing with water can help prevent damage. But we have some dietary allies as well! Crunchy foods like apples, carrots, and celery provide a mild scrubbing effect. Dairy products such as milk, cheese, and yogurt strengthen enamel. Fruits such as strawberries and pineapples, studies suggest, contain enzymes that are natural stain removers. While no one food takes the place of brushing or cleaning, a healthy diet and a healthy body enhance any smile.

• Brushing with a Whitening Toothpaste

Toothpastes are available which can remove some surface stains, and which can keep teeth their whitest after a professional whitening. They won’t penetrate the enamel surface or change the natural color of your teeth. If these toothpastes are going to work on discolored tooth surfaces, you will usually see results within a few weeks.

• Over-the-counter (OTC) Whitening Kits

These products provide a peroxide-based gel that can be applied in a tray or with strips. If you choose a tray application, make sure trays fit properly so sensitive mouth and gum tissue is not irritated. If you decide on strips, always make sure all of the tooth surface is covered to avoid uneven whitening. These kits have more powerful whiteners than toothpastes, and so you might see better results, but tooth and gum sensitivity can be a problem.

While all these whitening methods can be helpful, there are some circumstances when a professional whitening is best. Professional gel whiteners are more powerful, and can help eliminate darker stains that OTC products can’t remove. We can make sure sensitive gum and mouth tissue is protected from bleaching agents. And, if you are on a deadline, we can provide a much faster result. Some conditions, such as deep stains caused by trauma or medication, or darker-colored caps, veneers, and crowns, require more than whitening, and we are happy to present options for those situations.

If you have any questions or concerns about whitening your teeth, please give our Lebanon, NJ office a call. Whether it’s advice on how to brush or how to quit smoking, discussing the effects of foods and drinks on our teeth, suggesting OTC whitening products, or providing a professional whitening, Dr. DeCasperis and our team are happy to help you achieve your best and brightest smile!