How to whiten your teeth after you quit smoking

How Covid-19 helped us kick the habit

During the Covid-19 lockdown, over 1 million people quit smoking in the UK and just under half of them said Covid had given them the incentive to quit. If you’re one of those people you should be very proud of quitting, but you may find that your teeth still show tell-tale nicotine staining so this week we’re going to explain how you can restore that smile to its original beauty.

Check your staining type

The type and severity of your dental staining will vary depending on how often you smoked and how long you were doing it for. It could be anywhere from light yellow staining on the outer tooth surface right through to brown stains that have penetrated to the dentin layer below. Different types of staining will need their own solutions, your best bet is to ask a dentist about this but as appointments are hard to come by these days you may wish to do a little self-assessment in the mirror!

Surface stains

Surface stains are not always easy to notice but they can worsen over time so it’s best to nip them in the bud early. Social media influencers may suggest mixing your own concoctions at home using lemon juice, baking soda, mashed strawberries, etc… But as dental professionals we would strongly advise against it, these types of abrasive mixtures could do irreparable damage to your teeth and that’s exactly what we want to avoid. Instead of making your own magic mixture at home, the gold standard solution would be to find your local hygienist and book in for a professional deep clean (this is called a scale & polish).

Deep staining

Deeper internal staining is the most troublesome to fix. The only truly safe and effective solution would be to book into your dentist for professional tooth whitening using a bespoke set of bleaching trays fitted to your teeth. While you can order kits online, there is no guarantee as to whether they’re the real product or not and without a dentist assessing and guiding you through the process you’re unlikely to achieve such a healthy and positive outcome. For best results, your dentist will also suggest that you have a scale and polish to clear surface stains out of the way in advance.

Alternatives to scale & polish

Due to Covid, you will find it very difficult to find anywhere offering a scale & polish at a reasonable price. This is because the large amount of aerosol particles released in the procedure mean hygienists can’t take the risk of accidentally treating an infected person. But we can help with our home-use product SMILE.

SMILE is a dental prophylaxis paste (prophy paste), similar to the one a dental hygienist would use to perform a scale & polish. As part of our Dr Denti home-use range it’s perfectly safe to use with your normal toothbrush as part of your usual oral care routine and can remove surface staining from food and drink as well as nicotine. Until you’re able to book in with your dental practice for a professional clean and whitening treatment, using SMILE alongside your regular toothpaste is a great way to bring a fresh, white sparkle back to your teeth.Paragraph

Where to buy

SMILE is available from chemists and general stores nationwide. If you’d like more information on this product or any of the issues raised today drop us an email at info@gapdental.com or call us on 01474 560 618.