How to Whiten Your Teeth on a Budget

It can be pretty expensive to buy professional trays and whitening gels necessary to bleach your teeth. A cosmetic dentist or orthodontist has to custom make a tray for you, and of course this costs money too. Fortunately, the Internet abounds with tricks to whiten your teeth on a budget. Surprisingly, a lot of them actually work.

One budget trick involves a mouth guard, whitening gel, and cotton swabs. A mouth guard is about one dollar and is readily available at your local grocery store. Sometimes they have a strap on them, but you can cut that off. As for the gel, it is of the 5-minute whitening variety and it is also pretty cheap. You can get just the gel or the gel as part of a set.

First, you have to fit the mouth guard. Most of the time, it must be dipped in water until it goes soft. You have to read the instructions on the package before you start. Do not hold it in the water for longer than it says, because it might shrink and get stuck. After you have rinsed it for as long and not longer than it says to, shake off the water and bite down on it. After you bite down, suck it in and press on it hard with your fingers until it gets hard. Do the same thing with both rows of teeth to attain uniform color.

If you bought a gel that comes with a pre-whitening rinse, use it like the instructions tell you to. After this, take a Q-tip, put some whitening gel on it, and put some on each tooth, all through the front and between them. Make sure you leave no space without gel on it. Unless you have a really big smile that shows even your molars, you can go without bleaching them too. A lot of people bleach just the teeth that show when they smile. Do the same with your bottom teeth. You then put your tray in and keep it in for around twenty minutes. This can be done twice a day in the first two weeks. After 20 minutes, take out the tray and brush your teeth like you normally would. Rinse the tray and leave it to dry. It might be a good idea to do this in the shower because it will be easier to spit and rinse. You are not advised to brush your teeth before you bleach because that tends to lessen the effect. If you must, though, rinse your mouth thereafter with lemon-flavored water.

In the next several days, take care not to eat any foods that might stain your teeth. Avoid such beverages too. These include tea, coffee, wine, and other drinks with colored pigments. Obviously, you should go with white-colored foods and avoid dark-colored ones. The group of foods that will stain your teeth includes dark soups, dark chocolate, tomato sauces, stews, soy sauce, beets, blueberries, and dark marinades.

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