Everyone loves white teeth. Evaluating the whiteness of your teeth is subjective and depends on how your dentist tends to rate it. White teeth depends up on your food and drink choices. Also, oral hygiene that you follow or even the medications and treatments can cause your teeth to stain. It affects either on the tooth surface or below the tooth enamel. To keep your smile bright and beautiful, it is important to visit your dentist. Moreover, your dentist will be able to diagnose the reasons for the teeth stains and plan the treatment accordingly.
Irrespective of the type of teeth stains, at Brite Dental Group, our dentists are available to help you with the right diagnosis and appropriate treatment so that you can get that bright smile of yours back.
Some of the causes of teeth stains include:
- Food and drinks like sodas, certain fruits and vegetables,
- Tobacco both smoking and chewing
- Poor oral hygiene like inadequate brushing and flossing
- Disease or trauma
- Medication and treatment: Certain medications for high blood pressure, chemotherapy or antihistamines. Also, certain medical treatments can contribute to the teeth stains.
There are three main types of teeth stains:
- Extrinsic teeth stains: This refers to staining on the tooth surface. This usually occurs when pigmented residue from food and drink cause the build-up of protein in the form of a film on the tooth enamel. Typical causes include the use of tobacco, regular drinking of coffee or tea. Also, wine, soft drinks or certain fruits and vegetables can cause stains.
- Intrinsic teeth stains: This refers to staining below the tooth surface that occurs when particles seep through the tooth exterior and accumulate within the tooth enamel. It can be caused sometimes by the use of excessive fluoride.
- Age-related teeth stains: This refers to the combination of intrinsic and extrinsic teeth stains. With age, the tooth enamel becomes thinner. Thus it exposes the dentin which is the core tissue of your teeth. Consequently the teeth yellows naturally over time. Hence, both due to age as well as the effect of food and drink, your teeth tend to discolour.
Teeth whitening can be done in two ways:
- By removing the tooth stains on the outer layer of the tooth as well as below the enamel surface. Dentists use both chemical and physical actions such as abrasion and chemical stain disruption to remove stains. We use bleaching, a chemical process in which stubborn stains that accumulate below the enamel, are removed by oxidation of stain molecules. Whitening methods will depend on how white you want your smile to be.
- By preventing the generation of new stains: Through nutrition and diet and good oral hygiene.
The procedure:
Our dental team will explain the diagnosis and based on your requirements will start the treatment. Our dental professional will apply the bleaching solution directly to your teeth. Dentist then uses either a laser or any other special equipment to speed up the bleaching process. Usually, you will see the results after one treatment, but you may on consultation with the dentist opt for more sessions. You may feel a little sensitivity in your teeth and gums after the procedure which resolves very quickly. A bleaching treatment usually takes 30 to 60 minutes.
How long the benefits of the whitening treatment and white teeth last depends on your lifestyle and habits. Our team will advise you on the post whitening oral hygiene that you need to maintain at home.