Why Aren't Your Teeth White?

By E. Taylor Meiser, DDS, PA

White teeth add to anyone's smile. A bright smile with white teeth makes one more attractive and confident. Dark, yellow, stained teeth detract from even the biggest smile. The visual media know this well, movie stars, magazine models, and TV personalities all show dazzling white teeth when they smile.

So, why aren't your teeth as white as they used to be? It's the result of heredity, environment and time. A few people are born with “soft teeth” or defective enamel that absorbs staining foods and breaks down easily. For others, there are environmental factors of diet and certain drugs (tetracycline) that can discolor teeth. Even fluoride in excess can cause “brown stain” or “mottled” enamel. Coffee, tea, grape juice and dark-colored colas are common teeth stain producers. Tobacco use, smoking or chewing, is also a stain producer.

Teeth have a layer of enamel over an inner layer of dentin and, over time, the enamel wears away and lets the yellow inner dentin layer show through the thinner layer of translucent enamel. This is why teeth naturally yellow with age.

How can teeth be made whiter? Years ago, it was pull them and get full dentures. Then it was put porcelain crowns (caps) on them. Recently, porcelain veneers (thin porcelain layers bonded to the front of the teeth) was a less drastic way to restore teeth to whiteness without the excessive drilling that crowns require.

Now there is for the vast majority of people who don't require their teeth to be fixed, just whitened, an easy, painless, needleless, fast and very effective procedure to whiten natural teeth to a dramatic brightness they never had before. This process is called teeth whitening (bleaching). Whitening can be done at home using trays with bleaching gels or in the dental office without trays in just an hour. Tooth whitening is available and affordable, as well as quick and comfortable, especially when down in the dental office under the supervision of the dentist.