There might not be a single person on the planet that wouldn’t love a brighter and whiter smile.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a high school freshman hoping to catch the eye of that cute senior or a senior citizen hoping to show up at your high school reunion with a dazzlingly white set of chompers – or anyone in between. There’s just something about having brilliantly white teeth that all of us covet.

Unfortunately, for a lot of us, getting that brilliantly white smile isn’t exactly the easiest thing in the world.

With every single year that goes by, our teeth get a little bit darker – usually darkening up by a shade or two every five or six years. The pigment inside our teeth becomes more and more prominent with age as the enamel starts to disappear, and before you know it all of those daily cups of coffee have done their job at staining your teeth just as best they could.

It’s enough to make a guy or gal go crazy!

Thankfully though, there are a lot of teeth whitening solutions available on the market today that we all have the opportunity to take advantage of. Many of them are offered directly from the kinds of dentists that we feel completely comfortable with already, and there’s certainly no shortage of DIY teeth whitening kits available over-the-counter as well.

The only problem there is that those teeth whitening solutions (both of those kinds of teeth whitening solutions) are usually a lot more expensive than most of us are able to afford on a regular basis. And no matter what you may have heard anywhere else, your teeth are going to need to be white and gradually over time to build up layer after layer of “whitening resistance” – and that’s why even the cheapest professional teeth whitening solutions are so expensive!

What if I told you that you didn’t have to spend a small fortune to have brilliant white teeth, and that you’d be able to brighten your smile all on your own in just minutes every day, getting the same kind of professional results from the comfort of your bathroom without threatening to break your bank account in the process?

Would you be interested?

Cut out the staining stuff ASAP

It’s going to be absolutely impossible to wait in your teeth on your own if you are going to continue to hammer your teeth with food and drink that will stain them every single time they come into contact with your teeth.

You’re going to want to bail on coffee (as much as possible, anyway), skip the black tea, and avoid “dark foods” – pasta sauce, blueberries, soy sauce, etc. – just as soon as you can. It’s the only way that you’re going to be able to build up consistency consistently whiter layers on your teeth.

Forget about baking soda

People all over the world have heard that baking soda is absolutely fantastic for whitening your teeth, but that isn’t exactly the full truth.

Yes, baking soda is amazing at removing stains that are already on your teeth, and you should definitely use it in the early stages of the whitening process to strip things down to your enamel. But you’re going to want to reel back on baking soda pretty quickly, as the same compound that is going to strip your teeth of stains will actively work to dissolve the outer layers of enamel – and that’ll put you in a really sticky situation!

If you lose too much enamel your teeth are going to darken all on their own, and then you’re really going to be in trouble.

Throw out your stiff bristle brush

For a while there, stiff bristle brushes were all the rage, as people thought they’d be able to deeper clean their mouths and their teeth with bristles that could stand up to a good scrubbing.

Now we understand that you can do a lot of damage with a toothbrush if it is too stiff, and it’ll actually work like sandpaper to scrub and abrade your teeth until the outer layers have been rubbed off. Pitch that stiff brush in the trash and instead swap out for something a little bit softer and you’ll be good to go.

On top of that, it’s always good to replace your toothbrush every three months or so – well before it looks worn out. By that time, it’s already no good!

Fall in love with mouth guards or gel trays

Even though whitening strips have gotten pretty popular in the last few years, they just aren’t going to be able to give you the kind of consistent contact you need to make a difference. What you’re going to want to do instead is fill up a mouth guard or a gel tray with teeth whitening compounds and then bite down, making sure that you get even distribution across the board.

Take care of that and use the rest of the tips and tricks we’ve included in this quick guide, and before you know it your teeth will be a lot brighter and a lot whiter than they are today!

You really wouldn’t think there is all that much to brushing your teeth, and that there certainly wouldn’t be anything that you could mess up!

After all, almost all of us have been brushing our teeth since we got our first set of baby teeth, and almost all of us have been brushing at least once a day. To think that millions and millions of people all over the world are getting it wrong when it comes to brushing their teeth seems a little bit crazy – but it’s the cold hard truth!

In fact, according to be American Dental Association, anywhere between 100 million and 150 million people in the United States alone are likely brushing their teeth the wrong way. Can you believe it?!

Who would have thought it possible?

On top of events, brushing your teeth incorrectly can lead to all kinds of dental health issues. And now we understand that our dental health is closely linked to the rest of our body, and if our mouths aren’t healthy, it’s likely that we aren’t, either.

If you are ready to figure out whether or not you’ve been making mistakes when it comes time to brush your teeth you’ll want to check out the inside information we have for you below!

Millions of people aren’t brushing every day!

I know, I know – brushing your teeth should only take two or three minutes at the most, before some reason there are millions of people in the United States (and probably billions all over the world) that simply aren’t taking the time out of their day to brush their teeth every single day.

If you can think of something funkier than that, I’d love to hear about it!

Not only should you be brushing your teeth every single day, but you should also be brushing your teeth at least twice a day – and three times if you can squeeze a scrubbing in right around lunch. Your smile will thank you, and so will your dentist!

There is a huge problem with brushing your teeth right after you eat

Even though there have been commercials in the last few years telling people that they need to brush their teeth immediately after eating to keep them healthy, nothing could be further from the truth.

You see, after you eat microscopic components of the food you have eaten still cling to the outer surface of your teeth, and if you start to scrub while those components are still there you’re going to do some serious damage. Those components are pretty abrasive, and if you combine those components with an acidic beverage – like orange juice, for example – you can really wreak some havoc.

Try and wait at least 30 minutes after eating before you even think about brushing your teeth.

You should be brushing your teeth the way you mow your lawn

Anyone that has spent a serious amount of time trying to get their lawn to look just as picture-perfect as any ballpark in America understands that you simply cannot cut your grass the exact same way in the exact same direction every time out. The grass just won’t support that kind of abuse.

Instead, you’re supposed to reverse the patterns that you cut into your lawn every other time out, giving your grass the opportunity to recuperate and recover from the damage done to them previously.

Your teeth operate in much the same way. If you’re brushing from the exact same spot every single time you’re going to end up “wearing a pattern” into your teeth, and worse than that you’re likely getting tired – and maybe even a little bit bored – towards the end of your brushing session. This means that the teeth that get cleaned last in line are going to get cleaned least – and that’s trouble!

Try to change things up by starting to brush in the top right corner of your mouth, then maybe the top left, and then alternating the bottom spots before working your way back to the top right position again. You’ll buy yourself a bit of time, avoid doing any damage to your teeth, and will give your smile and upgrade at the same time.

Don’t try to beat the clock

Though the overwhelming majority of people out there understand that you should be trying to brush your teeth for at least two minutes straight, a lot of people put off brushing their teeth until it’s the last thing that they do to get ready for their day – and by that point in time, the odds are even better that they aren’t going to be brushing their teeth for two minutes.

Don’t let that happen to you.

If you need to, feel comfortable brushing your teeth while you shower so that you have more than enough time to get the job done right. Take the time and you’ll guarantee staying out of the dentist you probably won’t have to visit the dentist quite as often as you would have otherwise.

The Columbia Dental School and the University of Washington have just recently released a new report that shows that nearly 50% of the people in the United States (we’re talking about 150,000,000+ people here) are absolutely terrified of heading to the dentist and avoid it actively unless they absolutely have no other choice.

Think about that for a moment. One out of every two people or so that you know are absolutely terrified of heading to the dentist. It’s amazing to consider just how many people share this same phobia.

What’s even more amazing is that this number hasn’t gone down at all, even though dental solutions, interventions, and technology and research has gotten even better, and the dental field in general is the most advanced it’s ever been in human history.

But there’s just something about visiting the dentist that none of us can shake.

Thankfully, there are a couple of different things you’re going to be able to do all on your own to make sure that you always feel completely comfortable heading to the dentist. You’ll be able to crush any anxiety or stress that you feel about going to the dentist, and you’ll be able to take advantage of dental services more frequently because of it.

Check out the answers that we have for you below!

Get there early to wash away stress

The only thing worse than feeling nervous and anxious about the dentist is arriving just moments before your scheduled appointment and feeling even more frazzled because of it.

The last thing that you want to do is put any extra pressure on yourself when you’re already nervous, which is why you’re going to want to try and get to your appointment at least a half an hour before you have to. This gives you plenty of time to relax in the waiting room, to unwind, and to speak with the dentist or any of his staff so that you are completely at ease before your actual appointment.

It is one of the simplest ways to wash away stress, but it’s also one of the most effective!

Communicate regularly with your dentist

We always feel a lot more comfortable around people that we know and that we are familiar with, and we almost always feel at least a little bit of awkwardness when we are dealing with complete strangers in intimate situations.

Well, it doesn’t get a lot more intimate than having a stranger stick their fingers or their tools in your mouth, now does it?

And that’s exactly what most of our dentists are to us – strangers. We only see them once a year (if that), and we have no real relationship built up with them. If you are looking to eliminate a lot of the stress and pressure that you’re feeling, you’re going to have to change all that.

Spend more time communicating with your dentist (within reason), and really try to create some kind of rapport and a relationship so that you don’t feel quite as anxious visiting them.

Work only with pain-free dental professionals

There are lots of specialty dental offices out there today that focus entirely on creating pain-free dental services for each and every one of their patients.

If you are at all anxious, nervous, or a little bit worried about visiting the dentist because of the pain that you have felt in the past or the pain that you are in envisioning, these are the kinds of specialists that you’re going to want to visit.

Many of them take advantage of local anesthetics and use them for pretty much every operation or procedure in the office, and some even have “knockout gas” that they are able to give to those that really cannot even imagine going through the motions without being completely unconscious.

If you ever find yourself dealing with serious anxiety to the point where you aren’t able to address dental emergencies because of your stress, you’ll want to try and find one of these pain-free dental professionals and asked them to give you the juice.

They’ll knock you out, take care of the problem, and you’ll come to in much better shape than you were before without ever having felt anything!

Remember that you are always in control

At the end of the day, it’s important to remember that you are always in complete and total control.

Sure, your dentist is going to be the professional there and will be recommending and carrying out the different procedures that you need to have performed, but you are always able to say you aren’t comfortable with something and have the choice to walk away.

Should you find yourself in a situation where you just aren’t feeling it, you just aren’t comfortable, where you just can’t quite reach an equilibrium, don’t be shy about voicing your concerns and rescheduling to a later point in time. It might just be the thing you need to move forward!

The odds are pretty good that you have a full schedule, and just have been putting off visiting the dentist since you aren’t dealing with any kind of dental emergency, anyway.

That’s exactly what the overwhelming majority of people are doing, according to the American Dental Association – putting off the dentist because they don’t have a pressing issue to take care of – but it’s become a major problem as well.

According to information that has been published by the ADA in conjunction with a number of dental schools in the US, a significant amount of people haven’t been to the dentist in anywhere between four and eight years. Some people haven’t been in a lot longer than that!

This is not good news.

There are a lot of different reasons why you’ll want to visit your dentist on a regular basis, that there are some very serious reasons why you’ll want to visit your dentist TOMORROW if it’s been quite a while since your last checkup.

Let’s get right into it!

Your dentist will be able to spot early signs of tooth decay

Each and every general dentist’s primary mission is to do one thing and one thing only – to catch dental issues before they spiral into dental nightmares and to deploy dental services and solutions that slow down the rate of tooth decay, resolve gum disease issues, and help you keep your original set of chompers.

If you aren’t visiting your dentist on a regular and routine basis, they aren’t going to have any opportunity whatsoever to have a look “under the hood” so to speak. This means that dental issues that could have been addressed effortlessly are going to have the opportunity to spiral out of control, and then you’re talking about some serious “heavy lifting” on the dental services side of things just to get you back to your normal self.

Schedule visits at least once a year so that your dentist will be able to have a look at you and determine exactly what kind of shape your mouth is. They will also have the chance to get out ahead of serious issues and make sure that they disappear with a lot less effort, a lot less time, and for a lot less money.

Your dentist will be able to deeply clean each and every one of your teeth

Another big benefit of visiting the dentist on at least a once a year basis is that they are going to be able to provide you with a much deeper clean than you’re going to get at home.

Yes, you’ll be able to keep your teeth brilliantly white if you’re brushing once in the morning and at least once more before bed – while flossing a couple of times in between – but you aren’t going to be able to give yourself the same kind of super deep clean that a professional with professional tools will be able to.

There’s a reason why they have all of those tiny little instruments designed to poke around inside your mouth and to give it the deepest clean imaginable, and you’ll want to take advantage of those services on at least an annual basis. Go too long without a regular cleaning and you run the risk of your teeth picking up some pretty nasty habits and a bunch of bacteria – and that’s when things can really start to get out of control.

Your dentist will be able to diagnose serious dental disease issues

The US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that there are more than 30,000 cases of oral cancer reported each and every year – but many of them are caught later in their developmental stages and require a lot more work to fight than those that are caught early.

The reason that they aren’t found earlier has everything to do with the fact that most people just aren’t visiting the dentist often enough to have a diagnosis in time. This is why adults are recommended to visit the dentist at least once a year (and it’s even better if it’s more like once every six months).

Oral cancer can spread somewhat quickly, but it’s also easily treated and remedied if it’s caught in the earlier stages.

Your dentist will be able to stop and (hopefully) reverse gum disease

The overwhelming majority of gum disease issues can be stopped dead in their tracks and even reversed if they are caught early enough – but that requires a dentist to inspect them regularly.

Gum disease is one of those sneaky health conditions that most people aren’t even aware of. It has the ability to completely destroy your mouth from the inside out, but it also has the opportunity to do a real number on the rest of your body as well.

Regular visits to the dentist will guarantee that you’re able to catch gum disease issues like gingivitis in advance, giving you every opportunity to fight and reverse those issues.

Even the best oral and dental hygiene isn’t going to protect your child from getting cavities if they have a bit of a sweet tooth.

And what kid doesn’t have one of those!

Sure, you’re going to want to make sure that you do absolutely everything in your power to make sure that they understand the benefits of quality oral hygiene at a young age, but you’re going to have to prep for the fact that they are likely to get at least one cavity – just like everyone else.

The real trick isn’t completely eliminating the chance for a single cavity to rear its ugly head, but instead to find a way to cavity proof your child’s mouth so that they never get more than one. This isn’t all that difficult when you know exactly what you’re up against, and honestly, you are probably going to be able to cavity proof them without feeling stressed or pressured so long as you pay close attention to the details we provide you below.

At the end of the day, it really all boils down to just making sure that your child’s mouth and their teeth are taken care of and that they have established the kinds of quality oral hygiene habits that will allow them to keep all of the original teeth throughout their life!

Strip the sugary stuff from their diet

It’s going to be absolutely impossible – impossible – to strip every single sugary snack or treat from the diet of children (especially when there are able to head off to school and interact with other kids), but you’ll want to do your best to try and curb the indulgences of sugary snacks as much as you reasonably can.

Sugar is the granddaddy of them all when it comes to cavity causing foods, and sugary drinks are right there with them. Not only that, but once the sugar starts to eat away at the enamel on their teeth, it’s going to become one of the major food sources for the bacteria that will take up positions in those early cavities.

As the bacteria continues to grow and reproduce, it’s going to turn that sugar into acid – eating away even more at your teeth. This is the kind of cycle that you want your kids to have to deal with.

Make sure they’re brushing twice a day (with a fluoride toothpaste)

When you have children you’re going to have to juggle a lot of different responsibilities, and you are almost always going to find that at the end of the day, there’s just not enough time in 24 hours to do everything that you’d like to.

However, you need to make absolutely certain that your children are building healthy oral hygiene habits day in and day out – and that all starts with making sure that they brush their teeth bright and early in the morning and then just before they head into bed. There are a lot of people out there that skip one (or both) of these daily brushing’s, and boy do they pay for it!

Find a quality mouthwash for them to use throughout the day

It used to be that dentists and other oral hygiene professionals recommended that everyone brush their teeth almost immediately after eating every time that they ate throughout the day, but that’s no longer the truth.

We now understand that microscopic bits of food remain on the surface of teeth for up to 30 minutes after you eat, and those microscopic compounds act like pieces of sandpaper if you brush right after eating.

This is why you’re going to want to flush your mouth (and encourage your children to do the same) after they eat so that you get the bulk of the deep clean you would have with brushing without the damage to the outer layers of your smile.

Send them to school with travel sized bottles of mouthwash and they shouldn’t have any trouble whatsoever making sure that their teeth are just as good as brand-new all day long!

Take advantage of regular professional cleanings at least twice a year

The best way to make sure that your children aren’t developing cavities throughout the year is to actually take them to the dentist every six months or so for a professional cleaning and a checkup.

Yes, this is going to involve a little bit of extra scheduling. And yes, it can get to be a bit of a headache having to run to the dentist every six months – especially if you have more than one child.

With these professionals are going to be able to really detail your child smile, making sure that it is perfectly clean and threat to avoid cavities no matter what else happens. These kinds of deep cleanings can help protect their smile for years and years to come!