What big, white teeth you have!

If you are going to spend hours a day on make-up, skincare, hair and fashion, I feel that you should make sure that you take care of your teeth too! I have a "thing" for bright white chompers and think that since most of the time the first thing you notice when you meet someone is their smile, you want to make sure you leave a good impression!

Now, I have big teeth. No matter how long I have been seeing a dentist for, the first thing that he or she will always say is "wow, you have nice, big teeth!" While they might mean it as a compliment, I take it more like "hey there bugs bunny!" Yes, I might just have a complex about it but still for this reason I keep my teeth as white as possible. I would much rather have big white teeth than big gross teeth.

In order to keep my pearly-whites white, once or twice a year I try to use a seven-day whitening strip kit but I have found that daily care can be more than enough needed to maintain a sparkling smile. According to my dentist, brushing (not too hard since that can actually wear down enamel) and flossing daily keep teeth clean and light in color and staying away from dark colored fluids that can stain teeth including red wine, coffee and soda can also help. I am fine with the whole brushing and flossing thing but I have a real problem with him telling me to stay away from three of my favorite beverages! Therefore, I still need a little something extra to kick up the white during my daily brushing.

I had heard that using baking soda can help with stains and whitening so a few months ago I decided to try Arm & Hammer Advance White toothpaste. I had seen in a commercial that they guaranteed, in just four weeks (with twice daily brushing), you could kick up your color up to three shades whiter. Sounded good to me! While I don't know if I really had much of a noticeable difference in the shade of my teeth, I did notice that it maintained the whiteness even when consuming monstrous cups of coffee and daily doses of diet coke. When I ran out of my toothpaste and started using a back up that my husband was using (not everyone is a fan of the slight baking soda taste), I noticed a significant change and darkening of my teeth. The end result - typical toothpaste just didn't work as well for me at keeping stains at bay.

The Arm & Hammer Advance White toothpaste really works well for me and while there is that baking soda flavor, it really doesn't bother me much and has become a staple to my morning routine. If your not so keen on the taste yourself, try following up with a mouthwash such as Listerine to remove the flavor and freshen up breath too. This time, the next time your saying "what's up doc?" you will blind them with your sparkling-white smile!

Arm & Hammer Advance White toothpaste is available at most grocery stores. I purchased mine at Target in Quakertown.