For many of us, we try to make sure that we do brush and
floss our teeth twice a day and ensure optimal oral health. However, we might
still have stains, and it can be quite annoying as well. However, we want to
have bright and winning smiles that will light up a room. While there are a few
common causes for tooth discoloration, there are actually three that can be a
big factor in it. There are intrinsic ones, extrinsic ones, and age-related
issues. You might wonder how you can watch your own personal health and ensure
that you don’t have teeth staining that your Eugene dentist will have to help
with, and here’s how.
The first, is to consider food and drink. These are
extrinsic issues which are associated with discoloration of the enamel. These
are typically caused by pigments, acids, and other chemical factors, which are
typically in what we eat and drink. For example, wine, tea, color, coffee, sports
drinks, various barriers, candy, and even tomato sauce do cause this. While it
might not immediately have effects on your teeth, but over time, you’ll start
to notice these come about. The best ways to avoid these are brushing and
flossing after eating these, having them in moderation, and drinking water
along with these consumables as well.
Then there is intrinsic discoloration, which is in the inner
structure of the teeth, which causes a darkened and yellow tint. This can be
caused by trauma sustained on the tooth, and if you have that trauma during
childhood, it can develop to the adult teeth beneath it, which causes the
changes in the color. If it is sustained during adulthood, this could also
cause internal bleeding and also potentially discolor the tooth as well.
Now, if you notice this, you should talk to your Eugene dentist about this, seeing if there is a way for you to help alleviate the
issue that is there. There are also other causes that can include medications
that were used early on, being born with a rare condition that causes teeth to
become gray, purple, or even amber. If you start to notice this early on, you
should talk to your dentist about it. They can steer you in the right direction
and help you if you have this intrinsic conditioning. You might be able to help
this by whitening the teeth as well. You should definitely ask questions if
that is the case.
The final one is age related and this is a combination of
what you take inside of you, and also the intrinsic factors. This happens over
time, and typically, the dentin in our mouth will naturally yellow as we get
older. Enamel on the outside also gets thinner as we get older, which in turn
will cause the yellow pigment to kind of show through as well. If you start to
notice this, sometimes it’s because of aging, which is inevitable in everyone.
It’s hard after a certain time as well to have perfectly white teeth as well.
However, extrinsic factors also play a huge role in this. If
you drink coffee every single day without brushing your teeth afterwards, or if
you smoked cigarettes all through your life, this will cause that to set in
deep on the surface of the enamel, and it will permanently settle. That is one
of the reasons why cigarettes are frowned upon, because they do cause this discoloration,
sometimes very early on.
However, if you have a case that can actually be fixed, you can see your Eugene dentist to get the help that you need. Often, they have the means to give you brighter smiles, and you’ll be able to help alleviate the staining as well. Do consider this as a means to help, and you should talk to them today. Who knows, you might end up being able to help with the staining, making it way less noticeable, and way less prominent. There are ways to alleviate this, you just need to talk to them, and they’ll be able to direct you on the right treatment plan to give you a brighter and healthier smile.
