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Aged Dark Teeth
Aged Dark Teeth
Overview
You may have noticed that your once-sparkling smile has dimmed over the years..
As we get older, the outer hard tissue covering our teeth, called enamel, wears away and exposes the darker dentin beneath it. This can cause our teeth to appear more gray or yellow rather than white.
The enamel itself gets stained by coffee, tea, red wine, and tobacco. There's no shortage of whitening products these days.
Dental bleaches containing peroxide (available over the counter or through your dentist) will lighten your teeth a few shades, although the results are less dramatic in older teeth.
Whitening toothpastes and rinses can temporarily lift superficial stains, but don't expect the effect to last.
Before deciding on a bleaching method, it's a good idea to talk to a dentist.
Some whitening ingredients, such as carbamide peroxide and hydrogen peroxide, can make teeth sensitive.
And the effectiveness of different bleaching techniques can vary with the type of discoloration.
Stains caused by exposure to the antibiotic tetracycline in childhood are particularly stubborn and may require several rounds of bleaching to remove.