5 Tips for Maintaining a Beautiful Smile

Smiles are inherently beautiful things—they’re our most primal way of communicating happiness, gratitude, amusement, and a whole host of other positive emotions. Here are some tips for how to make your smile even more beautiful.

1. Avoid Foods and Drinks that Stain Your Teeth

One of the best ways to make sure your teeth are a nice bright white is to avoid the foods and drinks that have the most staining potential. These include coffee, red wine, soda, candy, berries, and tea. As you can see, some of these teeth-staining foods (like berries and tea) are actually quite healthy, meaning you shouldn’t cut them out entirely. One way you can offset the staining these foods cause is rinsing your mouth or brushing your teeth immediately after you consume them. For the liquids, you could also try using a straw to help your teeth avoid any damaging contact.

2. Eat More Apples!

eat apples for teeth

Not only will an apple a day keep the doctor away—it will make your smile whiter too! Crunchy fruits and vegetables like apples, carrots, and celery scrub your teeth as you chew on them, removing the stains that make your teeth less white. One important thing to remember, though, is to rinse out your mouth after eating these foods so you can get all the sugar and acid out of there.

3. Quit Smoking

quite smoking

Everybody knows it: smoking is insanely bad for you, and can lead to a whole host of unpleasant and deadly ailments, including cancer and heart disease. Need more motivation to quit? Smoking stains your teeth, giving them a dirty, yellowish discoloration. So not only will smoking kill you—it will kill your chances at a beautiful smile too.

4. Brush, Floss, and See Your Dentist Regularly

A healthy smile is a beautiful smile. Brushing and flossing every day will help prevent cavities and disease, and has the added benefit of removing surface stains. You can’t do it all on your own, though—you should see a dentist every six months or so to get a really thorough cleaning and make sure you don’t have any dental health issues brewing. Added bonus of taking care of your teeth: studies have shown that poor oral health can contribute to heart disease.

5. Whitening Treatments

Despite your best efforts, chances are your teeth are going to lose some of their whiteness over time. You’ve probably noticed the explosion of at-home teeth whitening treatments in recent years, and a lot of them can be quite effective. If at-home treatments just don’t cut it, call in the professionals. Your dentist will be able to give your teeth a safe, heavy-duty whitening. If you’re on a budget, try brushing your teeth with baking soda once a week.

Interested in helping others get beautiful smiles? The field of dental assisting is expected to experience huge growth in the next few years, expanding by 36%. Even better, most of the training is on the job, and no legal certification is required. Dental assisting training programs are becoming easier to find, however, and can be a good idea to make you a more attractive candidate to employers.

Madeline Marshall graduated from her State University with honors and loves to freelance on her off-times.

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