Tooth whitening can be as simple as using whitening toothpaste or calling on the talents of an accredited Rockland County dentist for help. There are many things over the years that contribute to the teeth becoming dull, and they are things that people do every day, without giving much thought to. Here are the top five reasons to see your Rockland County dentist if you are interested in whitening your teeth.
The first reason to see your dentist is age. There is a direct relationship between the color of your teeth and your age. As time goes on, teeth darken from stains, wear, and tear. Teenagers are the ones who are most likely to see more stunning results from tooth whitening, and the shade of teeth moves with age from white to yellow to a brown shade by the mid forties.
The next thing that contributes to the dulling of teeth is a persons eating habits. The coffee, tea, red wine, and cola that we drink have staining effects on our teeth. Dentists say that eating carrots and strongly colored foods and drinks are to blame. Acidic foods like citrus fruit and juices as well as vinegar erode the enamel from our teeth, leaving the more yellow colored dentin to eventually show through. The surface of the teeth becomes more transparent.
The third thing that can make your teeth lose some luster is smoking and using other chemicals. A dentist will warn patients about this all of the time. Nicotine leaves brown deposits on the enamel of our teeth, which slowly soak into them, causing discoloration that becomes difficult, although not impossible, to remove. On the other hand, too much of a good thing is also bad. Too much fluoride causes fluorosis, which causes a white mottling effect on the teeth.
Reason #4 to see your dentist is grinding. There are a lot of people that suffer from grinding teeth. A dentist may see many cases of grinding and injury to the teeth all of the time. Many people dont realize that the grinding adds to the tiny cracks in the teeth, and the cracks are exactly where the stains like to soak into first.
The final reason to pay a visit to your dentist is genetics. While all teeth show some translucency, those that are opaque and thick have an advantage: they look lighter in color and are more successful with tooth whitening. Teeth that are thinner and more transparent have less of the pigment that is necessary to be whitened, and this is all genetics. Be sure to see your Rockland County dentist with any questions you may have regarding your teeth.