La Parisienne likes healthy and natural things a little bit in all areas and this is also true for her hygiene, beauty products or even the care of her teeth. Before moving on to more aggressive treatments to whiten her teeth, which moreover lose their effect after six months and which are expensive and can damage the enamel, she will first use some of her grandmother's good secrets! Here are some of them, as well as a little lesson on teeth...
The natural colour of tooth enamel varies from yellow to light grey depending on the person and age. It is this very hard substance that surrounds and protects the ivory of the teeth, on the part of the teeth that appears outside your gums. The ivory is the part of the tooth that goes into the gums, which you can consider the "bone" of the tooth. Because enamel is half translucent, it reveals the ivory. It is therefore also the colour of the ivory that will determine the shade of our teeth! And yes...
Foods that stain a tablecloth also stain teeth.
Tooth enamel is slightly porous, which means that fine particles of food can get into it and get stuck in it. This explains the purple colour of the teeth when you eat blueberries, but also when you drink a red wine rich in tannins.
- colourful beverages, such as coffee, tea, Coca-Cola, red wine and dark fruit juices (grape juice, cranberry juice, cranberry);
- brightly coloured foods such as blackberries, blueberries, cherries, pomegranates, red fruit ice cream, tomato sauce, red beets, curry sauces, licorice. All these foods contain pigments that cling to the enamel and leave traces.
The more porous your enamel is, the longer the traces last.
Our mouth is a huge shed for bacteria, present by the millions, which ferment food residues. In particular, the
horrible Streptococcus mutans, transforms sugars and carbohydrates into acids that demineralize the enamel crystals, promoting the invasion of bacteria into the tooth and its destruction. So all foods that produce acids after fermentation increase the porosity of the enamel. And they are unfortunately numerous, in particular: sugar, jams, sweets, honey, sodas, energy drinks, beer and to a lesser extent breakfast cereals, bread, pasta, rice and all starchy foods.
To avoid damage to the enamel, you should avoid brushing your teeth within half an hour of eating acidic foods such as citrus fruits. This gives the enamel time to remineralize!
It is not the quantity of sugar ingested, but the frequency of sugar ingestion that ruins teeth the most. Every time sugar is eaten, the enamel demineralizes and remains vulnerable for about 30 minutes. Thus, eating small amounts of sugar continuously is much worse for the teeth than eating a large amount at once.
Foods that make teeth white.
Many foods help to maintain their pearl colour:
- apples, almonds, carrots. These foods are rich in "solid" fibres that need to be chewed well and produce the effect of a natural tooth brushing. In addition, they stimulate the production of saliva which neutralizes the acid attacks of bacteria;
- rhubarb, spinach, carrots, cruciferous vegetables (cauliflower, broccoli, etc.), cocoa. After eating these foods, they usually leave a strange sensation in the mouth. This is because they are rich in oxalic acid, which captures calcium from the enamel and forms a protective layer on the tooth. Avoid if you have gout or kidney failure.
Whitening your teeth at home
Here are two tips from grandma that work to safely whiten her teeth at home:
- rub your teeth with the inside of an orange peel, which is the white part between the orange's rind and its fleshy part. In scientific language, the white part of the
orange is called the mesocarp and contains chemical compounds that whiten teeth. Rub your teeth for 45 seconds and brush them half an hour later;
- strawberry paste and baking powder (baking soda): strawberries contain a compound that acts as a natural whitening agent. Crush a freshly ripe strawberry and mix it with baking soda until it has a paste-like consistency. Strawberries are
acidic, but soda neutralizes the acidity. Apply this paste to your teeth, leave for 20 minutes and rinse. Wait half an hour and then brush your teeth to remove the sugar naturally contained in the strawberries.
Some people also claim that rubbing your teeth with vegetable charcoal will also whiten your teeth but I have no opinion on this.
