One of the first things that someone notices about another person is their smile. For this reason, cosmetic dentistry is growing in popularity and demand. Most commonly, our patients want bright, white teeth and ask about teeth whitening options. Before choosing a method of whitening your teeth, let’s take a look at some of the most common reasons why teeth become discolored in the first place.
Reasons You May Need Teeth Whitening
- Age: As we grow older, our tooth’s enamel begins to weaken and wear down. This exposes more of our inner tooth, causing our teeth to appear dark and discolored.
- Food and Drinks: Drinks that contain a lot of dark pigments, or acid, and foods that contain food coloring, or acid, can stain our tooth’s enamel or cause it to wear away.
- Tobacco usage: Smoking cigarettes, or using another tobacco product, can cause plaque and tartar build up, and can discolor your teeth.
- Pharmaceuticals: As we all know, medications have side effects. Unfortunately, a common side effect of many medications is tooth discoloration.
- Trauma: If your tooth suffers an injury, is bruised, or traumatized for any reason, it can become discolored.
If you do not know why your teeth are discolored, you should schedule a consultation with your dentist. The reason for this, is that the underlying cause of your tooth discoloration can change how your teeth are treated. As an example, if your teeth are discolored due to pharmaceuticals or trauma, then a product that contains a bleaching agent will not whiten your teeth. Instead, you may need to opt for veneers or another type of restoration.
In our next post, Dr. Lechner in Delaware, OH will lay out the many options available when it comes to teeth whitening. If you are in the Delaware area and would like to consult a dentist about teeth whitening, feel free to contact us today to make an appointment.