The Right to Wear White

Labor Day has come and gone...and so has the wearing of white for some people. In years past, the wearing of white was considered poor etiquette. It began with white bags & pumps and progressed into other clothing garments until fashion designers began incorporating a "winter white" into their fall/winter collections. Although the reason is not clear, most assume the ritual began due to white shoes not mixing with messy winter weather and slim dry-cleaning budgets of the past. In either case, the color white continues to still have a stigma associated with it post-Labor Day. But there is one place on the body that white is encouraged to be worn all year 'round---the teeth!

No one likes to have dingy whites (proven by the Clorox campaign for years), so why would you have dingy white teeth? There are many products and services today that have the ability to whiten or substantially whiten your teeth, ranging from in-office whitening procedures to simply eating more fruits and vegetables. Whatever your budget, whiter teeth can still be in your future.

In-office teeth whitening procedures are done at the dental office, using a high strength whitening agent and, most often, are accompanied by custom fit trays so you can continue whitening at home. This option tends to deliver the greatest whitening results with the greatest investment. Over-the-counter products are not custom fit and tend to be a bit messier. Since these products can be bought over-the-counter, and don't require supervision by a dentist, the concentration of whitening agent is less. The whitening results are often less than in-office whitening, but so is the investment. The least expensive option, eating more fruits and vegetables, actually comes with health benefits, too. Eating fruits with seeds, such as strawberries, or biting into crunchy vegetables, such as carrots or celery, actually help to remove stains from your teeth. The hard vegetables and seeds act as abrasives (like toothpaste) for your teeth and fortify your body at the same time.

So Labor Day or not, white is always in fashion...you just have to know where to wear it.