For most people, whitening teeth is strictly cosmetic. The cost of professional whitening treatments offered by your local dentist isn’t normally covered by insurance and the out-of-pocket costs can be high. The oral care industry has caught onto this and offers a slew of home whitening products that are designed to bleach your teeth, but some consumers and dental care professionals alike are asking whether or not home bleaching treatments are safe and/or effective?
Most dentists will tell you that when used according to the instructions, most home teeth whitening kits are safe. But new reports suggest that overuse and abuse of the products can cause permanent damage to tooth enamel and increase the sensitivity of a person’s teeth. So are home whitening kits safe to use?
Dentists recommend that before you use a home tooth whitening kit, you take part in a dental hygiene program or regimen that provide for a standard cleaning and x-rays as well as an oral exam. Routine cleanings are important because they can brighten up your smile simply by removing built-up tartar. Often the tartar, rather than the tooth enamel itself, is stained. Removing the tartar removes the stain and reveals a brighter, whiter tooth.
X-rays and oral examinations are also important because they can reveal any thin or weak teeth that could suffer long-term harm from home whitening products. Generally, however, if you have strong health teeth to begin with, and use the products according to instructions, the enamel on your teeth should be fine.
Once your teeth have been professionally cleaned and examined, then you can consider home whitening treatments. Normally, these treatments involve the use of gels or creams that coat the teeth and whiten the enamel. For this kind of treatment to be successful, it’s important for the whitening agent to make good, full contact with the surface of each tooth. Uneven application of the whitening paste or gel will result in unevenly whitened teeth.
Follow the product directions precisely, and brush and floss your teeth once the treatment is done. Do not repeat the treatment more often than directed and be careful when using toothpastes with whitening agents, or whitening pens. Overuse or abuse of these items can lead to permanent damage of your tooth enamel over time.
Hydrogen peroxide and baking soda can act as a whitening agent, but it won’t produce the instant results a professional bleaching treatment will. It is safe for repeated or regular use, inexpensive and will whiten teeth over time. To whiten your teeth with hydrogen peroxide and baking soda, add a small amount of hydrogen peroxide to a little baking soda and make a paste. Using your toothbrush, apply the paste evenly and directly to the teeth. Let this mixture sit for about two to three minutes, then rinse completely with water. If desired brush your teeth with regular toothpaste afterward. You can safely repeat this daily or every other day for brighter, whiter teeth.
Some home remedies advocate using lemon juice to whiten your teeth. This is a very bad idea that could cause permanent damage to your enamel. Lemon juice strips teeth of their natural calcium (some of which may be off white in color). The lost calcium cannot be replaced, and that leads to the breakdown of enamel and the increased risk of tooth decay. Lemon juice, limejuice and other highly acidic foods should be avoided. If you eat acidic foods like lemons, limes, lemonade, orange juice, tomatoes or tomato juice, immediately brush your teeth to reduce acid exposure and possible enamel damage. Colas, coffees and teas also contain a lot of acid, so you should brush your teeth after drinking these beverages.
Young Lee is a recent graduate of a Dental Hygiene Program, she hopes to find a job soon at local dentistry. But on her free time show loves to freelance and read.
We all desire a healthy and fit body. But it is always a challenge to start work on it. Many of you may get tired of going to the gym, doing exercises, following hard and complicated diets that don’t produce the desired results. Don’t lose hope as you are not alone. Many people from all over the world are eagerly waiting to know simple solutions to lose weight that can drive positive results. A research shows that 97% people who diet will end up by gaining their weight again because extreme dieting does not work much. But there are simple solutions for weight loss and is healthy, natural and drive results. Instead of doing hard and fix dieting, you can choose a nutrient rich and healthy diet to lose weight.
Following are SevenSimple Solutions to lose weight:
1.) Leave eating before your stomach get full
Always leave some empty space in your stomach. Don’t eat too much. Stop eating after your stomach is 80% full. Leave that 20% space to eat later or after some time. Also don’t start eating until you are actually feeling hungry. This will enable you to eat without starving because you will eat only when you really meant to, not until you get satisfied. So the real key of healthy weight loss is balanced eating.
2.) Take small meals several times a day
Hunger means that you have low blood sugar and your brain starts feeling starved. So, don’t allow yourself to stay hungry for a long time. Just divide your 3 meals a day into 6-7 small meals. Small meals will not let you feel famished and also curb the tendency to eat junk food. It’s better to eat small meals after every few hours instead of skipping your meals.
3.) Eat healthy and nutritious breakfast
Breakfast isthe most important meal of the day. So take a healthy breakfast. It’s best to eat a fruit daily in the breakfast. Your metabolism starts working after breakfast and it allows you to start burning your calories.
4.) Fulfill your body needs, that is, healthy proteins, fats and carbohydrates
Your body needs glucose and carbohydrates for energy, and also fatty acids, minerals and proteins in sufficient amounts. If you do not get these nutrients in required amounts then your body will start storing fats instead of converting into fuels.
5.) Take a multivitamin and a fish oil supplement everyday
Don’t stress yourself for trying to get all the required nutrients from food as it may cause overeating. Instead of this, take a multi vitamin according to your gender and age, and also take omega 3 fatty acids that found in fish oil to reduce weight.
6.) Drink lots of Water
Water helps to reduce weight very fast. Don’t get confused thirst with hunger. An average person should drink 8-10 glasses of water in a day, and a person who wants to reduce weight should drink 14-16 glasses in a day. A Research shows that a person who drinks 2 glasses of water 25-30 minutes before every meal reduces weight much faster than a person who doesn’t.
7.) Permit your body to do easy workout
Try to do easy work out like choose the stairs instead of using the lift. If you are working in a job where you have to sit continuously for hours then start fidgeting under the desk with your feet and it will make a difference. Try to give yourself a break for 2-3 minutes to leave your seat.
Roberta Smith writes for http://www.markkia.com. She enjoys content and writing about the social sphere.
You go to the gym regularly to exercise your muscles and tone your body. You enroll in “Art of Living” classes to improve the quality of your life and get a handle on your temper. You always try to groom yourself well to project a good personality. But, if your eating habits are not healthy, then all your efforts to feel and look good may be in vain.
We are living in an ‘Instant World’. In our quest for instant gratification, we indulge in instant coffee and instant food. No time for a proper breakfast?Not to worry, you grab a burger to go from a fast food joint. Meetings and conferences eating away your lunch hour? Well, you skip lunch and have an early dinner. Late night party with a bunch of friends? You drink like a fish and keep the hunger pangs at bay while munching on chicken tikkas.
These are choices we make every single day, without a thought to what we are doing to our bodies. Today, eating healthy has become hard work. What should have been a way of life is almost like an alternative lifestyle.Come to think of it, eating healthy has actually never been easier. There is a lot of information floating around – from grandma’s tips to professional advice. Any food and drink item that you pick up is labeled with its energy constituents. Every other person is on some kind of a diet, either to lose weight or maintain an ideal body weight. So why is eating healthy such a difficult proposition?
What we are trying to do is make it easy for you to eat healthy. Read on and find out how you can enjoy the benefits of healthy eating.
1. A Week in Review
More often than not, we eat without actually realizing what we are consuming. So you had a chicken burger for lunch. What exactly did you get out of it? What percentage of it was fat or carbohydrate? Does the lettuce layer in the cheeseburger make it healthy? We don’t really worry about what we eat until we suffer the consequences.
As a first step to healthy eating, make a log of you everything that passes your gullet. Keep a written diary of what you eat, how much, and when. Also note what you were doing while you were eating. If you skipped dinner, put that down in the log. It’s important not to cheat on this log – it’s your eating habits that we are trying to rectify.
2. Plan the Objectives
Why do you want to eat healthy? Do you want to shed those extra kilos? Or are you looking for an increase in stamina? Is you blood pressure bothering you?You have to make the decision -what will your objectives be? This will help you judge if the changes you made in your eating habits served any purpose or not.
3. Planning for Dietary Needs
It’s not always advisable to follow your friend’s diet chart blindly. You have to make allowances for your own dietary requirements and make adjustments accordingly. If you have high blood pressure, it makes sense to reduce the consumption of sodium in your diet. This may mean elimination of canned foods and cooking low salt food. Similarly, for diabetes, you may have to cut down your sugar intake. If you are overweight, you will need to decrease your calorie intake or increase the amount of physical exercise.
Meet with a nutritionist to discuss your specific health issues. It is dangerous to embark on a healthy eating spree with half baked ideas.
4. ABC’s of Healthy Eating
We understand that sometimes it can feel like you are being bombarded with more information than you can process with clarity. If you don’t know where to begin, follow these basic guidelines to help you understand how you can eat healthy.
- Eat a variety of foods.
- Eat plenty of fruits, vegetables, and grains.
- Reduce the intake of sugar and salts.
- Eat foods low in saturated fat and cholesterol.
- Switch to 1% skim milk rather than full cream milk.
- Choose to bake, broil, steam, grill and poach, instead of deep frying.
- Use canola oil or olive oil for stir frying.
Now that we have got you started, you won’t find it difficult to wade through the morasses of information to pick up other healthy eating habits.
5. Variety is the Spice of Life
There is no single food which can provide you will all the nutrients required for your body to stay healthy and function properly. Ideally, you should choose a variety of foods from the five different food groups.
Eating healthy is all about striking the right balance. You should choose a variety of foods from each of the main food groups in the right proportion. It’s not imperative that you maintain this balance at each and every meal. But at least once in a day, you should strive to achieve it. Remember, many food items can belong to a variety of food groups. A pizza for example, has a bread base, a vegetable, meat and cheese topping.
6. A King’s Breakfast and a Pauper’s Dinner
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It helps you kick start your day with zest and energy. It not only lulls you out of physical inertia, it also makes you alert mentally.
Eating a healthy breakfast is also known to reduce the number of calories you consume later in the day. Researchers have found that the calories consumed in the earlier part of the day are more filling than the same amount of calories consumed in the later half.
An ideal breakfast should contain some amount of carbohydrates for quick energy and also some proteins to help you last until lunch. Poached eggs, low fat yogurt, oatmeal, bagel and low fat cheese, all make good breakfast options. The latest health trend is to completely skip the traditional concept of breakfast, lunch and dinner, and have six smaller meals instead. Eat in smaller plates and exercise portion control.
7. Bad Eating Habits- A Complete No-No
Skipping meals or starving yourself is not the way to go. The first step that your body takes in response to a skipped meal is storage of fats. You not only end up eating more for your next meal, your body thinks that it’s important to store the calories because it’s not certain when you will take the next meal.So skipping a meal will only be counterproductive.
Also, when you are eating, concentrate on eating. Multitasking may be important in the corporate world, but when you try to do something else, like read your email or watch TV while you eat, you end up eating more than you otherwise would.
Try and lessen the amount of fast food you eat. When you are bored, you may pick up a bag of potato chips or sip on a fizzy drink. But it makes much more sense to munch on fruits or vegetables, like a stick of celery or a carrot.
8. Read those Labels
One of the benefits of living in today’s world is that all packages, canned and prepared foods have labels on them which list out their ingredients and their nutritional values. The nutrition labels indicate the serving size and also the percent of daily values of saturated fat, carbohydrate, fiber, protein and sodium in each serving. These values are based on a 2000-calorie scale.
When you have this facility at your disposal, why not make the most of it? Look for hidden fats and sugars, high amounts of sugar and sodium. Don’t pick up items which have hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils in them.
9. Junk the Junk Food
If there is no junk food in the house, then you won’t eat it. Follow this maxim religiously. Don’t linger in the fast food isle and pick up popcorn, frozen dinners, wafers, chips and colas. Keep a steady supply of fresh fruit and vegetables in the house for those times when the urge to snack kicks in. Plan ahead so that you never run out of healthy snacks.
One surefire step towards unhealthy eating is going grocery shopping when you are hungry. When you are hungry, everything looks appetizing, nothing more so than those calorie laden, fried stuff. If you shop when you are hungry, you are liable to pick up chocolate bars and snacks, none of which will help you eat healthy. So fill up that tummy before you head out to replenish the stock.
10. Don’t Go Overboard
And finally, too much of a good thing is not really good in the long run. You may decide to embark on a healthy eating fad by consuming only vegetables and fruits and non fat food. You may completely give up those chocolate pastries, the fizzy drinks and the one peg of whisky which was your night time ritual.
But beware! This extreme diet may not last long and when it goes for a toss; your body will feel the repercussions. You may end up gorging on deep fried foods and everything else that is not healthy. So moderation is the key. Accept those eating habits which you are comfortable with. Remember one piece of chocolate once in while will probably not cause you any harm.
Delicious food is one of life’s greatest pleasures and all kinds of foods can be part of a healthful diet. So, give in to your cravings sometimes. Indulge in your favorite sinful foods once in a while. No food is bad for you; it’s your total diet that matters.
About Author:
My name is jackie anderson and i run a website on converse shoes : http://www.theconverseshoes.info
Seasonal, or outdoor, allergies can cause you to sneeze, sniffle and generally feel like you’ve just been whacked with a pollen-filled pillow over and over again. But while you may want to pack it in for the season, camp out on your sofa and live off of a vat of homemade chicken soup – there’s work to be done, exercise to be had and great experiences that lie just outside (yikes… OUTSIDE!) your door.
So how can seasonal allergy sufferers cope with their symptoms and still have a great time doing the things they love? Try these seven simple tips for making it through the season of sneezing – while still having fun.
- Use a saline spray or a neti pot for some quick nasal clearing and a bit of relief.
- Drink plenty of water. This will help you stay hydrated, thin your nasal secretions and help ease the discomfort brought on my sinus issues.
- Take a hot bath or a steamy shower after you get back from outdoor activities. This will help open the sinuses, promote drainage and help relieve some of your sinus pressure – not to mention send the pollen on your body directly down the drain.
- Check the pollen report and avoid areas packing the biggest punch. Is it a gorgeous day in a valley, but the mountains are swimming in pollen? Take a hike in the valley and leave the mountains for another day.
- Concentrate on breathing through your nose, not your mouth – because your nose filters incoming air and helps keep allergens out.
- Vary your workouts to take advantage of reduced-pollen areas. For instance, if you usually golf, but like tennis, spend at least part of allergy season on a clay or cement court instead of the links.
- Plan outdoor activities when pollen counts are at their lowest (Hint, pollen generally peaks from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and in the early evenings, so become an early bird.)
One last tip: Consider the virtues of a low-pollen garden. Some ground covers, like myrtle and ivy, are just as beautiful as grass but non-pollenating. And azaleas and some fruit trees and shrubs produce heavier pollen that doesn’t get blown about in the wind.
Talk to the experts at your local garden center about which plants are right for your environment – and while you’re there, be sure to pick up a microfiber mask.
Tina Rose writes for RealAge.com, a health and wellness website focusing on helping those with environmental allergies, and providing health tips to help you live life to the youngest.
