About one-quarter of the entire population of adults in the United States don’t like to smile because they don’t like the way their teeth look. The fact is that even though most people don’t have perfectly white teeth, having teeth that aren’t white still makes many feel uncomfortable with their smiles.
Are you unhappy with your smile due to tooth discoloration?
If you want to know the causes of yellow teeth, keep reading below. We will explain the 6 most common reasons for discolored tooth enamel and talk about what you can do to get whiter teeth.
1. Smoking or Chewing Tobacco
While smoking is bad for your health in general, it can wreak havoc on your oral health specifically. The tar from smoking can lead to mouth cancer or gum disease.
People that are consistent tobacco users will find that, over time, their pearly whites will start to fade to a more yellow color. Eventually, they may even turn brown. Other issues that might arise include bad breath and more fragile teeth.
While you can definitely benefit from teeth whitening if you’re a smoker or chewer, the best way to get whiter teeth is to stop using tobacco altogether. Even with the whitening treatments, the teeth will become discolored again if use is continued.
2. Bad Diet
There are certain things that many people have in their regular diets that may contribute to tooth discoloration. Things like black coffee, dark curry, berries, red wine, and other things can stain your teeth when you ingest them by default due to the tannins found in them.
Some other fan favorites, including soda and sugar, are also bad for teeth because they will stain the teeth surfaces and tarnish the enamel. If you have a buildup of bacteria on your teeth and gums, you may eventually end up with tooth discoloration as decayed discolored teeth and gum disease usually go hand in hand.
3. Aging
As we get older, our teeth naturally become less white and start to discolor. Although inherited genetics and your personal history of family health will contribute to this, it’s a natural change that will eventually happen to everyone.
The tooth will lay down more dentin and reduce the pulp or nerve space within the tooth as a person ages. The reduced pulp space makes the translucent effect that some teeth have look much less apparent and causes the tooth to appear more yellow-tinged.
Aside from that, it makes sense that older individuals will have more stains on their teeth just from being alive longer and eating more potentially staining foods.
4. Thinning of the Enamel
If your enamel is starting to thin out, the dentin inside the tooth will show more readily. Since dentin is more yellow in color, this is automatically going to cause your teeth to appear like they are also yellow.
For many people, enamel erosion will happen due to the acids that are found in the foods and drinks ingested. Saliva naturally will neutralize the acid in our mouths, but if we have too much acidic food, and we don’t clear it away with good dental hygiene, the enamel will diminish progressively.
5. Taking Certain Medications
Some prescribed and over-the-counter medications can cause tooth discoloration gradually. Medications that you’ll want to be cautious of include: antihistamines, antibiotics, antipsychotics, and antihypertensives.
Of course, you should always take your medication as prescribed by your doctor. Your physical and mental health is more important than having white teeth! However, you should be aware that taking these medications over a period of time could lead to more yellow-shaded teeth.
In addition to that, if your birth mother took antibiotics while pregnant, you may have stained teeth as a result. You may also have stained teeth if you took antibiotics before you were eight years old.
6. Experiencing Tooth Trauma
If your teeth have experienced some type of damage, they are more vulnerable to discoloration. In children that are younger than about eight years old, getting hit in the teeth can disturb how enamel forms in the future on their teeth.
Trauma is also capable of causing an adult’s teeth to discolor if they experience an injury, such as a sports injury, because it may impact the blood flow to those teeth. As a result, the nerve may die.
It is still possible to whiten a tooth that has experienced trauma, but the process will be slightly different than what it looks like for teeth that have exterior stains.
Your Teeth Whitening Options for Tooth Discoloration
After the dentist works to protect your gums and lips, the whitening agent will be applied to the outside of your teeth. This gel will remain in place for about 15 minutes, but your dentist will let you know beforehand how long the process takes.
A high intensity light source is isolated to focus directly on all of your teeth to cause a photo-chemical reaction that will lighten the color of your teeth. You may have to repeat the process more than once to get to the optimal shade of whiteness you’re looking for.
If your teeth have started to discolor internally due to trauma, this means that the bleaching agent has to be put inside the tooth but only after root canal treatment had been completed. .
To do this, the dentist will access the previous pulp chamber by accessing the tiny hole in the back of the tooth created when the root canal treatment was done and then adding the bleaching agent to this area. After a few days, you’ll come back for another round of whitening to be completed.
After your tooth whitening is completely finished, your dentist will add a more permanent restoration to seal up the hole in the back of the tooth permanently.
Avoid Yellow Teeth With Professional Whitening Techniques Today
Dealing with yellow teeth can lead to less confidence and lower self-esteem, but there are things that your dentist can do for you to help. Get your smile back to its former glory, and give yourself the chance to feel bold once again!
Are you on the hunt for a Portsmouth, NH dentist with exceptional patient care? If so, look no further – Better Smiles Dental Care is here for you.
Contact us to learn more about our cosmetic dentistry procedures, and schedule an appointment with us today.