Green Beer? Try Green Teeth

This Saint Patrick’s Day thousands of people across the U.S. will be
going out to celebrate with lots of delicious green foods like green
cakes, green cupcakes, green chocolate, green eggs and ham, and even the
popular Saint Patty’s Day hit green beer. But all this green food has
one thing in common: green food coloring. In small doses green food
coloring can be a fun way to brighten up your food or play along for
Saint Patrick’s Day, but after eating green food coloring all day a
person’s teeth will quickly start to show that green dye.

There
are two great ways to combat this however, to keep you looking your best
while celebrating the upcoming holiday. One great way to make sure your
teeth stay white all day on Saint Patrick’s Day is to get a thorough
cleaning shortly before the seventeenth. If you want to you could even
have the procedure done the day before Saint Pat’s. Teeth cleaning is a
regular maintenance procedure that is performed all the time, and is
mostly painless. Pain is minimized further when you have the right
dentist, like Dr. James A. Wells, who knows how to make sure the
cleaning is as pain free as possible.

The benefits to having your
teeth cleaned just before Saint Patrick’s Day are simple. When you have a
lot of plaque and tartar buildup on your teeth, these normally show up
as yellow spots. Sometimes you can get away with some plaque and tartar
buildup. Maybe you can keep your mouth mostly closed, or turn your head
so the light hits you just right to disguise the buildup. But when you
are drinking and eating heavy amounts of food coloring, green or
otherwise, the coloring is sure to splash on your teeth and attach
itself to your plaque and tartar buildup. Not only will this turn your
teeth green, but it will also point out exactly where your plaque and
tartar are built up on the teeth, highlighting them for everyone to see
in a lovely light green shade!

The other simple and easy way to
keep the green off of your teeth this March is to have a teeth whitening
procedure. You definitely don’t want to do this right before Saint
Patrick’s Day though! You should wait until the day after. Some patients
may experience a higher than normal susceptibility to staining
immediately after a teeth whitening session. This can also be affected
by which of the two available whitening options you choose, ZOOM! or
bleach trays. Just to make sure it is better to be on the safe side and
get your teeth whitening just after Saint Patrick’s Day. This is an
excellent option if you are not due for a cleaning for a while, or were
considering getting whitening soon anyway, or even if you just like to
stay on top of keeping your teeth in shape! Whitening can take care of
any green residue that may stick to your teeth
over the Saint Patrick’s Day holiday. Though some of the green dye can
be removed with brushing, and none of it will be permanent, it will
still be a tell-tale sign on your teeth
for a while after the celebrations. It’s better to play it safe than
take the risk that you may be walking around with slightly green teeth for the next two weeks or so after Saint Patrick’s Day!