Hi! My name is Gordon Rye. I am a dentist from Fairfax, Virginia. Today, we are going to talk about teeth whitening procedures and right now we are going to talk about what are some of the causes of tooth discoloration.
Food, drink, and smoking are obvious causes of teeth discoloration. In general, anything that discolors your clothing may also discolor teeth. Use of tetracycline antibiotics, excessive fluoride during childhood development will also cause what we call intrinsic stains or stains that originate from inside the tooth.
Tooth brushing habits are very important, keeping your teeth exceptionally clean will decrease the staining, getting professional cleanings at least twice a year is also very important. Use a soft toothbrush. Toothbrushes with very hard bristles tend to wear away the enamel. And when the enamel gets thin, it allows naturally darker color of the dentin to show through. So toothpastes can also come into play here. Toothpastes were originally designed to help smokers to have discolored teeth are actually abrasive and they wear away the enamel. So again, thin enamel allows the darker colored dentin to show through.
In general, to be safe, choose toothpastes and dental products that have the American Dental Association's seal of acceptance on them. Also, age naturally tends to discolor teeth. So those are some of the things that discolor teeth. And next, we are going to be moving in to off the counter products.
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