Your smile is uniquely your own. It is what helps you make a good impression when you first meet someone.

It is how you communicate delight, joy and happiness. A smile helps to put those around you at ease. With all of the things that your smile does for you, it makes sense that you would want to keep it looking its absolute best.

Just like we might visit a hairstylist to keep our hair looking vibrant and attractive, our smile needs a little bit of help, from time to time, to keep it looking youthful and radiant. Often our teeth aren’t as white as we’d like them to be. Fortunately, getting your teeth professional whitened will return your pearly whites to their previous glory. 

While teeth whitening markedly improves our smile’s appearance, teeth whitening results in temporary dehydration of the teeth and opening up of the dentinal tubules which stretch across the hard surface of our teeth. These tubules are like microscopic spaghetti tubes and while the teeth are dehydrated they will suck up any available moisture.

What this dehydration means is that, following a professional teeth whitening treatment, it is important that you refrain from consuming anything of a dark colour for a minimum of 48 hours. If you can go longer that’s great but it takes about 48 hours for the teeth to fully rehydrate and the dentinal tubules to close.

How dark a colour should you avoid?

Anything that will stain a white shirt.

Some examples of what to avoid in the first 48 hours after teeth whitening include:

  1. Tea and coffee

  2. Red wine

  3. Red pasta sauce

  4. Coloured toothpaste or mouthwash

  5. Fruit juice

  6. Smoking

In addition to these we also recommend refraining from acidic food/drink such as oranges, or  lemon juice as the high acid content in these foods will lead to tooth sensitivity.

To prolong the results of your teeth whitening procedure, be sure to visit your dentist for your 6 monthly dental checkup and teeth cleanings.