Your yellow teeth may just turn out to be a damper to an otherwise beautiful smile. Getting ready for a party? Wanting to wear the brightest range of lip colors. If yes, then a beautiful you ought to get rid of the yellowness!
WHAT ARE THE REASONS ??
Regrettably , a lot of extrinsic factors like our love for red wine, coffee,tea and smoking lead to of changes in our teeth resulting in discoloration of our teeth and a not-so attractive smile. Aging is another common factor for discoloration .Our teeth are made up of 3 layers namely:
– enamel
– dentin
– pulp
With time the underlying dentin tends to darken due to formation of secondary dentin.
Teeth whitening is the answer to age related yellowness of teeth.
PREVENTION AND TREATMENT
Most of the extrinsic stains can be removed by oral prophylaxis(scaling and polishing) but with time these stains will darken and become more persistent and may even penetrate through micro-cracks in the enamel. At this stage they will be highly responsive to teeth whitening.
Teeth whitening gel uses bleaching agents like hydrogen peroxide or carbamide peroxide and are normally used in two methods namely
– In office treatments
– At home / over the counter treatments
In office treatments are carried out by a Cosmetic Dentist. A variety of different tooth whitening treatments are available in different percentage formulations.Your cosmetic dentist will determine what is best for you.
Some treatments may require flashing a specific wavelength light onto the bleaching gel which is applied to the teeth to speed up the whitening process.
In the at home treatment, your dentist will take the impression of your teeth and provide you a custom tray which will fit only your teeth. You dispense a thin layer of whitening gel on the tray at home and wear it for about 2 hours a day or preferably at night.This procedure takes longer (1 to 2 weeks or maybe more)as compared to in – office whitening which is much faster and takes about 40 mins to achieve the desired results.