Stained Teeth – What’s The Best Way To Improve Their Appearance?

If you are one of our Burton patients, we have three treatments available that can help to brighten up your smile

We would all like to have a nice white attractive set of teeth and when we were younger, it may have seemed that they would always be that way. The reality though is that this is unlikely for most of us if we just rely on our regular teeth cleaning regime. Of course it’s still important that we maintain diligent personal hygiene, as it will help us to keep our teeth and gums healthy and will also help to remove some day to day staining caused by food and drink. However, it won’t whiten our teeth appreciably.

Teeth can also become discoloured as we get older due to a natural process. We won’t really look at that particular aspect of it today but, for those of you whose teeth have become yellowed with age, the second and third treatment that we will discuss are likely to improve their appearance. Do feel free to ask one of the dental team at SG Dental and Implant Centre about our treatments if you have this problem.

For many of us, stained teeth will occur due to what we eat, drink and especially if we smoke. Teeth whitening toothpastes, despite their claims, are unlikely to make a big difference and you will almost certainly achieve better results using one of the three treatments below. Our dentists will be happy to offer their advice.

Scale and polish

This is a treatment that our patients should receive every six months in most cases. It is not designed as a teeth whitening procedure but, for relatively mild surface staining, can have a significant effect. The main purpose of the treatment is to keep your gums in good health. In addition to removing any tartar that has formed on your teeth and gums, the final part involves a professional clean with a specially designed brush. This and the tartar removal can remove much staining as well as leaving your teeth smooth and less likely to allow staining products to become attached in the future.

We recommend that all of our patients undergo this non-invasive procedure for the sake of their overall oral health. For some, it may also remove enough staining to make them feel happier about their smile. As stated earlier though, it is not a treatment designed for this purpose and if you are still unhappy with stained teeth, one of the following treatments are likely to work for you.

Teeth whitening

Teeth whitening works for both teeth that have become discoloured with age and where relatively minor surface staining is present. It does this by using a form of bleaching agent that lightens any discolouring factors. Not only will it lighten the colour of any internal tooth discolouration caused by ageing, but will also enter the tiny pores in the surface of the teeth and whiten any stains in there to give you a much improved overall whiteness of your teeth.

This is popular cosmetic dentistry and becoming widely used, not only by younger people who are self conscious about their appearance, but by older people who would like to feel happier and more confident with a more youthful and whiter smile.

While the tooth whitening procedure is highly successful for most people who undergo it; for those whose teeth are heavily stained, perhaps from smoking, or where chips and cracks are also present which would spoil the appearance of any whitened teeth, the next step may prove to be more successful.

Porcelain veneers

Unlike the previous two methods, having dental veneers fitted may require some invasive dentistry. In order to fit the veneers in many cases, a fine layer of equivalent thickness will need to be ‘shaved’ from the front surface of the affected teeth. Once this has been done, impressions and scans will be taken in order to produce the porcelain veneers at a laboratory. This process can take a week or so and you will be provided with temporary veneers to protect your teeth in the meantime. Once your new veneers have been delivered to our Burton dental clinic, you will be recalled to have them fitted. This is done using a strong clinical adhesive and the veneers will then be trimmed and polished to make them look natural and give you a great looking new smile.

Naturally, professional advice will be needed to determine which of these treatments will be most beneficial in your situation. If you are unhappy with your teeth due to discolouration or staining, the best thing to do is to book an initial consultation with one of the cosmetic dentists at our practice who will be able to discuss the most appropriate options available to you.

If you would like to arrange your initial consultation, please give SG Dental and Implant Centre a call today on 01283 845345.