Everybody wants to have a bright and white smile but unfortunately many people suffer from stained and yellow teeth. There are various causes for your teeth to have discolouration. Some of these are easy to avoid and improve by yourself at home whilst other causes will require you to visit a dentist or hygienist for professional dental treatment. In this blog we will have a look through some of the more common causes for stained teeth and what you can do to improve it.
Broadly speaking we can separate the reasons for discoloured teeth into 2 main categories. The first are stains on the outside surface of your teeth and the second is discolouration that is inside or actually part of your teeth.
Stains on the surface of teeth
This is probably the type of staining and discolouration that most people have. Many things that we eat and drink and also smoke will cause staining on the surface of your teeth. Obvious causes are things such as tea, coffee and smoking cigarettes. However any food source that can stain your clothes will have the potential to stain your teeth over time if it is consumed regularly. This type of staining usually can be easily removed by visiting our hygienist for a scale and polish to remove tartar build up and of course staining from your teeth. We also have a special air polisher which blasts a mixture of air, water and fine sodium bicarbonate powder to remove stubborn stains from your teeth and to restore their natural shine.
Unfortunately if the heavily staining items are done regularly over a long period of time (such as cigarette smoking and drinking lots of black coffee) then the stains actually start to go into the enamel structure of your teeth and will not be fully removed with polishing alone. In these situations we also need to use professional teeth whitening to fully improve the appearance of your teeth.
Stains inside your teeth
Staining or discolouration that is part of your teeth can have many causes but the main ones are being unlucky and genetically having yellow teeth and as you grow older your teeth will naturally become more yellow. This form of tooth discolouration usually responds well to professional teeth whitening.
At Complete Dental Care we find that the best way to whiten your teeth is with one of our custom made home whitening kits. This allows you to gently whiten your teeth in the comfort of your own home and you are in control of process. Everyone’s teeth will respond differently to professional whitening but for most people they will see an improvement of around 4 shade lighter.
If you would like any more information regarding how to get a whiter smile then please contact us and book an appointment at one of our clinics.