Whitening Specialist

Why have my teeth lost their whiteness?

There are a few different reasons why your smile might not be as white as you’d like. Most often, it’s due to a combination of practicing poor oral hygiene and consuming too many stain-causing foods and beverages. 

Foods and beverages with dark pigments leave stains on your enamel that can make your teeth appear less white. Some of the more common teeth-staining foods and beverages include:

• Coffee
• Tea
• Red wine
• Dark sodas
• Berries
• Tomato-based sauces

Consuming tobacco products like cigarettes and chewing tobacco also stains your teeth, leaving your smile discolored.

Your teeth can also become dull as a side effect of medications like certain antihistamines, antipsychotics, and tetracycline antibiotics (if you’re exposed to them before age 8). 

Your age also affects the color of your smile. As you get older, the enamel on your teeth wears down, allowing the soft inner layer of your teeth (dentin) to show through. Your dentin naturally turns yellow as you age, and the thinner enamel allows more of it to show through, giving you a discolored smile.

What’s involved with a teeth whitening treatment?

There are a few different methods for putting the shine back in your smile, but they all work on the same basic mechanisms. A solution containing some form of hydrogen peroxide is applied to your teeth and left to sit for a certain amount of time.

The hydrogen peroxide penetrates the enamel of your teeth and breaks up the pigments that create stains. When the staining pigments are less concentrated and more dispersed, the natural whiteness of your teeth is more easily visible, giving you a whiter, brighter smile.

Can’t I just whiten my teeth with store-bought strips and trays?

Over-the-counter whitening strips and trays have become popular in recent years due to their cost and convenience, but they’re actually not that effective in whitening your smile and can even damage your oral health.

Store-bought products use generic strips and trays that aren’t designed for your particular smile. This leaves the bleaching solution in them to frequently leak out and irritate your gums.

Even when the whitening gel does manage to stay in the proper place, it’s not as effective as what you get at Varinos Dental Associates of Newburyport because the solution isn’t as strong. This means that your smile ultimately won’t whiten as much.

For a beautifully white smile that won’t damage your oral health, you need a professional. Schedule your professional teeth whitening today with Varinos Dental Associates of Newburyport by calling the office or booking an appointment online.

Reprinted with permission of the Massachusetts Dental Society