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Yellow Teeth
It’s hard not to notice yellow teeth these days. The war on stained teeth began when a whole
slew of teeth whitening products exploded onto the public market. Since then, a massive array of strips,
toothpastes, brush-on liquids, and even chewing gum now promise to give you
whiter, healthy looking teeth in just a few weeks.
But what’s this craze all about? Why the focus now? Well
for one thing, marketers realized that it’s something they could cash in
on. The problem of yellow teeth has
been around longer than many civilizations.
For the most part this natural aging process was never considered
something worth tackling. That’s
because our teeth are not white to begin with.
The hard outer coating of enamel is a bit off-white, and as it thins
with age the yellow-gray color of the inner portions of the tooth begin to
dominate.
To make things worse, excessive coffee drinking and
cigarette smoking can lead to surface staining in the front teeth. The worst thing about surface staining is
that it typically occurs in the front teeth where the smoke and liquids pass
the teeth. If you’ve ever seen a heavy
smoker smile, you’ve probably noticed the stain immediately at the front of
their teeth.
Until recently, there was nothing you could really do about
it besides visit a cosmetic dentist for an expensive treatment. Now, those expensive treatments have made
serious advancements in terms of technology, and many of them have trickled
down to the commercial market.
Commercial products are really just diluted versions of the
whiteners found in the dentist’s office.
They’re diluted in order to prevent damage to your mouth and lips. Unfortunately this means that their effect
is also significantly diminished. The
benchmark for home-use whiteners is typically only a few shades of improvement
towards pure white. These home
treatments usually last several weeks and must be done overnight. Things like whitening chewing gums do even
less, and are more like a preventative measure to be used after drinking a
coffee or smoking.
The treatments available in a dentist’s office are far more
effective, though they’ll cost you a pretty penny. They are usually about 10 times stronger than commercial
products, and will whiten your teeth up to 10 times as much towards pure
white. Of course, these chemicals are
typically quite dangerous and should only be used by a certified professional.
These treatments have always been available, but they’re
only hot right now because of heavy advertising. If you have yellow teeth but don’t drink or smoke excessively, whitening
is not necessary. Consult a cosmetic
dentist today to discuss your own specific needs.
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