Taking a look in the mirror and realizing that your teeth aren’t as white as you wanted them to be can really be disheartening.
The problem gets even worse when you realize all of a sudden that there are certain stains on your enamel that haven’t been there before.
All of that might make you discouraged and even frustrated, especially if you can’t even imagine the cause or the treatment option for those stains that you are seeing.
The most important thing to do is not to panic immediately.
There might be some perfectly easy solutions for your issues, which means that you should first find out more about how to remove stains from teeth and then check what would be the right solution for you.
Of course, before you do any of that, you might want to learn more about the reasons behind the discoloration that you are experiencing.
That is exactly what we are going to deal with in this article. Before we begin, though, I want to make things perfectly clear.
Everyone, and I mean everyone, living and breathing on planet Earth has been at least somewhat disappointed with the color of their teeth at one point or another.
Some people have decided to stay disappointed, while others have resorted to certain solutions that have definitely been of help.
This means that you also have the same two options.
You can either make peace with the fact that your teeth are full of stains and decide not to try and change the situation or get adequately informed about all kinds of whitening methods out there and try to restore that color you want.
It’s not like there are no solutions out there. I mean, we are living in 2020 here and technology has definitely paved its way into all kinds of medical fields, including dentistry. If you need a recommendation, you can get basic cleaning with the dentist in charlotte.
Consequently, you surely have a lot of solutions on your hands and the only question is whether you are willing to use those.
Given the fact that you are here, you are probably ready to use some of those solutions in order to get that perfect smile that you have been dreaming about for a long time.
So, since you are ready, you might as well learn as much as you can about the different solutions as well as about the different types of stains.
I assume that you are now wondering why it is important to learn about those types of stains in the first place.
Isn’t it enough to just skip to the solutions right away? Well, it most definitely isn’t.
In order to really understand these methods, you will have to understand the discoloration types as well.
That way, you will get to learn which whitening products and processes could work for your particular stains, instead of simply randomly buying all the products you come across and hoping for the best.
Now that the necessity of getting familiar with these particular stains has been made perfectly clear, I suppose that you cannot wait to start your learning journey.
Oh, okay, you might not be that enthusiastic, but, hey, it is what it is.
It’s time to learn and, trust me, everything you find out will be perfectly worth it once you find the perfect whitening product for you later on. So, let’s get started.
Here’s a short introduction to discoloration in general: https://www.webmd.com/oral-health/guide/tooth-discoloration#1
Types Of Stains
There are a lot of reasons why your teeth might get stained. In other words, there are a lot of causes of discoloration.
In accordance with those causes, dentists have divided the stains in three most important groups.
Now we are going to take a look at those three different types individually and talk about their causes.
Afterwards, we will proceed towards talking about the possible treatment options for every single one of these types that we will address here.
Extrinsic
This is the superficial type of discoloration.
No, I am not talking about the character of the stains, I’m talking about the fact that these appear on the surface of your teeth, which is why they are given the attribute of being superficial.
Okay, I suppose you might have guessed that all on your own, but I felt the need to explain it.
Hey, you can never know who is reading, am I right?
In any case, now that you understand what I am talking about, let us go into a bit more details regarding these particular stains.
Basically, extrinsic stains occur when certain particles, for example pigmented residues from certain foods or drinks, build up on the tooth. Now, you shouldn’t get the wrong idea. I’m not referring to plaque here.
If that were the case, simple brushing might be able to solve the problem. That, however, isn’t actually possible here.
Let me make things a bit clearer, so that you can get a better idea about what kinds of particles I am referring to.
Certain ingredients found in food and beverages that have rather strong colors are known for being harmful for the color of your teeth.
Black tea, coffee, colored beverages and food items are usually the biggest culprits for these types of stains.
Of course, we cannot fail to mention that tobacco is also to blame for these stains and evidence suggests that it probably has the most harmful long-term impact on the color of your enamel.
Click this to get more info about the possible causes of tooth discoloration.
One last thing that you need to learn is how to recognize this particular type of discoloration.
Well, for starters, you should consult a dentist and let the professional make the verdict.
If, however, you want to be able to recognize it on your own, then you should know that these particular stains are spread over the whole surface of the tooth, unlike some other types that can appear on certain parts of one tooth.
Intrinsic
I have mentioned above that there are some stains that don’t usually cover the whole surface of the tooth and now it’s time to take a closer look at those particular ones.
Let us start with the basics. Those are called intrinsic stains and they don’t affect only the surface.
Instead, they are located much deeper, below the surface, but they do manifest on the enamel in one way or another.
Usually, intrinsic stains appear as small, localized and darker spots on the tooth.
This is the easiest way to recognize them and thus differentiate between extrinsic and intrinsic stains.
So, apart from visiting your dentist and letting him or her make the diagnosis, you can easily make the distinction between these two discoloration types by simply taking a look in the mirror.
This, however, doesn’t mean that you should avoid those trips to the dentist.
As you probably might have guessed it, these stains are much more serious than the first type and they are usually much harder to treat.
Before we get to the treatment options, though, let us check out the causes of this particular discoloration type.
There are quite a lot of reasons why these might appear, so let’s take a look at some of those.
First and foremost, intrinsic stains can be caused by certain medications that you might be taking in order to solve a specific health issue.
In addition to that, overexposure to fluoride could be the reason why those dark spots are inhabiting your teeth.
Of course, these can also be the symptom of certain diseases, meaning that you should definitely consult your doctor about them.
Even though these are definitely much more serious than the first type I have mentioned above, the truth is that they can be removed, or at least hidden.
There are ways to treat these stains, but let us take a look at the third type of discoloration before we get to those treatment methods that I have in mind.
If you remember correctly, I have mentioned that there are three groups of stains and now it’s time to check out the last one.
Age Related
As we get older, our whole bodies change and it is only natural that we have to notice some changes in our teeth as well.
Age related stains are usually a combination of both the intrinsic and the extrinsic types.
The dentin, i.e. the core tissue of your teeth, gets naturally more yellow over time, which leads to discoloration.
The enamel, which is the outer layer of your tooth, gets thinner as you get older, thus wearing down and allowing the dentin to show its color which gets, as we already determined, more and more yellow as you age.
Basically, this is the type of discoloration that you won’t be able to avoid, since you cannot exactly slow time down.
Unlike brown spots on your teeth which are usually caused by your general habits, the food and the drinks you are consuming, age related stains are a natural process that cannot be stopped.
That, however, doesn’t mean that there is absolutely nothing you can do about these specific stains.
Even though they cannot be avoided, there are products that can change the color of your dentin and thus make your teeth whiter.
Treatment Options
Now that you understand all the different types of stains and now that you know how all of those are caused, you are probably ready to hear about the different treatment options.
It goes without saying that different types are treated in different ways, so let us quickly see how each of these stains can be removed individually.
We will, of course, start with the most basic type of them all, i.e. the extrinsic discoloration.
You might think that brushing your teeth after eating the food or drinking the beverages that could cause these particular stains is a good idea, but that is definitely not correct.
In fact, experts advise strongly against doing that, since that can erode your enamel, given that a lot of those foods and beverages are usually acidic.
So, that’s what you shouldn’t do.
Here’s what you should do, though. In order to prevent staining, you can wash your mouth out with water after consuming those ingredients that can cause discoloration.
If stains already occurred and you now need a way to remove them, then the best thing to do is invest in a teeth whitening kit that you can regularly use at home in order to solve the issue.
When it comes to intrinsic stains, not all of those kits will be that helpful.
This is because these particular stains need to be covered up and you can do that with the help of dental crowns or veneers.
If, however, you want to try your luck with some of these kits, feel free to do that, because the truth is that some of those can actually successfully solve the problem.
Make sure, though, that you choose whitening products that are pretty strong and contain bleaching chemicals.
As for the age related discoloration, I suppose that you can already guess the treatment options.
Since these are usually a combination of extrinsic and intrinsic stains, the only thing you can do is treat both of those types in order to get any results.
Once again, whitening kits can play a huge role here and be of extreme help in your efforts to get whiter teeth, regardless of your age.
How To Choose Your Kit
There is one last thing that you need to know. Instead of simply getting just any kit that you stumble upon, you will need to make sure that you are choosing the perfect products that are of high-quality.
This means that you will have to do a lot of research on various different products and suppliers, in order to determine the quality of the whitening kits and the reputation of the suppliers.
This way, you will be able to find the perfect whitening kit for you and get rid of any of those types of stains that are frustrating you.