We all want white teeth and for a variety of reasons. In today’s modern society we tend to spend an awful lot of money on our ‘beauty’ up keep and now teeth whitening has become a trendy & affordable part of our beauty regimes. But why are our teeth NOT white?
There are several reasons why we all don’t have the same gleaming white smile. however we will focus on the two main types, extrinsic and intrinsic staining.
Responsible for the extrinsic staining are the usual suspects, tartar, red wine, coffee, tea, curries and tobacco. Extrinsic staining is the simple staining of the tooth’s surface enamel or exterior and these are the easiest stains to remove. Heavy smoking can make these stains a little more troublesome and they can take longer to remove. Intrinsic stains are those that have seeped through the tooth’s outer surface enamel and down onto the dentin (this is the porous layer under neath the enamel). This happens with the long term absorption of the above ‘criminals’ in particular tobacco. Intrinsic stains can also be caused by genetic malfunctions or the incorporation of substances during the tooth’s formation, or indeed any antibiotics taken as a child; Excessive fluoride or tetracycline also cause these deeper intrinsic stains.
On the basis that you already visit a dentist regularly and your dentist maintains a good regime of scaling and polishing then teeth whitening is the next process to take your teeth back to their natural shade.
That last paragraph is very important and we would always recommend a discussion with your dentist first before under going any teeth whitening process. It is also important that you understand the process, and what your ‘natural shade. actually was – you may as well have realistic expectations!
Our natural tooth colour is in the main determined by the shade of our dentin, and the thickness of our enamel. As we grow older and substances are absorbed through our enamel and into the (unfortunately) porous dentin our teeth appear darker as dentin darkens over time, and to make matters worse as we age our enamel gets thinner emphasizing the darker shade even more. Unlike the rest of our body the human tooth stops growing once they are fully formed and wear and tear does take place, and so it is vital that we look after all aspects of our ‘Oral Hygiene’ – the next step is false teeth!! We must prevent tartar build up, scaling, plaque and maintain healthy gums and enjoy then the teeth whitening and the benefits that we can gain from a beautiful, healthy white smile.
Most teeth fall into the following ‘shade’ categories, yellow / grey / brown-grey and reddish yellow. However all these stains / shades will whiten over a period of time depending on which teeth whitening product that you have chosen, its strength and length of treatment period. Yellow teeth are by far the easier to treat and fastest, then reddish yellow. Grey and brown teeth can take a little longer, however with stronger bleaching agent and and time period your natural shade can still be reached.
If you understand the above then the choice of teeth whitening product is made significantly easier. For more teeth whitening advice & information visit our Advice Centre, or to purchase any of our teeth whitneing products including Crest Whitestrips please visit our online store at www.crestwhitestrips.co.uk
