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Are you someone who is hiding your dental problem of extrinsic and intrinsic tooth discolouration by saying that teeth come in a yellowish tone only?
If you said yes, then you are a bit wrong there.
Although it’s a fact that teeth do not come in complete white colour and there is a little yellowish tone to them.
But it does not mean that the yellow colour states you have good dental health. At the same time, most people confuse tooth discolouration issues with good dental health.
Here in this blog post, we will discuss everything about extrinsic & intrinsic tooth discolouration, its causes, and treatment methods.
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Types of tooth discolouration
Tooth discolouration is a common problem that can affect not only teeth but also gums. There are certain types of tooth discolouration. Have a look at some of the common stain types.
Extrinsic tooth discolouration
When you notice tooth discolouration or stains around the tooth enamel and the outer parts of your teeth, that is considered extrinsic tooth discolouration. In most cases, this issue is faced due to our bad food and tobacco eating habits.
Intrinsic tooth discolouration
Whenever you face issues of tooth stains from within the teeth, that is considered intrinsic tooth discolouration. In this issue, you would be able to notice a greyish tone around your teeth. Mostly you will face intrinsic tooth discolouration because of some medicines, genetics and more.
Tooth discolouration based on age
We all know that our tooth enamel starts losing whenever we enter old age, which leads to a yellowish tone around our teeth. When you face age-based tooth discolouration, you will notice both extrinsic and intrinsic tooth stain issues.
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Causes Of Tooth Discolouration
If we look at our dental health daily, we would never face issues like tooth discolouration. But the reality is, we consider it a small task and don’t keep a check on it.
Well, if not the dental health check then we have to keep a check on our habits that leads to tooth discolouration. Some of the significant causes of tooth discolouration are as follows:
Food habits
If you are consuming a lot of starch-based food items, you will face extrinsic or intrinsic tooth discolouration problems. Although if your teeth are completely fine, we suggest you eliminate starch-based food such as cold drinks, tea, coffee and more.
Tobacco
When we closely look at the people facing extrinsic and intrinsic tooth discolouration issues, we will figure out that most of them use tobacco daily.
Health diseases
If you are facing any such health issue that leads to a stoppage of normal enamel development, that becomes a significant cause of intrinsic and intrinsic tooth discolouration.
Medicines
Several medicines lead to tooth discolouration. If you take medicines daily and notice tooth discolouration, then it’s time to check out your medicines or get checked by your doctor.
Injuries
Just assume you are playing some sports and face an injury around your face, if that injury affects the enamel formation then it’s going to lead to tooth discolouration.
What Do These Colors Tell Us?
Tooth discolouration comes in various colours, which are caused by various issues.
Let us have a look at what these colours tell us:
Yellow
People who smoke or eat tobacco daily will notice yellow tooth discolouration.
Brown
If you have untreated tooth decay or tartar buildup on your teeth then such an issue leads to brown-coloured tooth discolouration.
White
Such an issue leads to white-coloured tooth discolouration whenever you have a tooth cavity.
Black
When your dental cavities are filled with silver sulfide, that leads to black-coloured tooth discolouration.
Purple
You must face purple-coloured tooth discolouration if you consume a lot of wine daily.
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Treatment For Extrinsic Tooth Discolouration
Extrinsic tooth discolouration is when the tooth’s outer area faces colour-related issues. And the best way to treat extrinsic tooth discolouration is by using methods or products that can help you bring back whiteness to your teeth and get them cleaned from the outside.
Tray bleaching is one of the best ways to treat extrinsic tooth discolouration. We would also like to mention that people get their tray bleaching done and forget about everything else.
But you should ensure that you are building an excellent dental care habit within which you are getting rid of a few food items that lead to extrinsic tooth discolouration and cleaning your teeth properly.
Treatment For Intrinsic Tooth Discolouration
We all know intrinsic stains are developed deep inside the teeth. If you still use tactics for whitening your teeth, that will not help eliminate an intrinsic stain issue.
For the treatment of intrinsic tooth discolouration, methods like veneers (for replacing the lost enamel), fillings( for tooth restoration), and other such ways are used.
You must go for tooth implants in the worst cases of intrinsic tooth discolouration.
Home Remedies For Tooth Discolouration
Check out practical tips that are effective in terms of tooth discolouration.
- Using a paste of baking soda and hydrogen peroxide to clean your teeth is one of the best home remedies for extrinsic tooth discolouration and removing plaque.
- Apply organic coconut oil to your teeth for 10-15 minutes, then rinse it with water to remove tooth discoloration.
- If you want to white your teeth and get rid of bacteria, use apple cider vinegar, take a few drops of the vinegar in some water and rinse your mouth with that mixture.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Yes we can prevent teeth from tooth discolouration; we need to make sure that we are developing good dental care habits within which we are not consuming more starch-based food items and are keeping our teeth clean appropriately daily.
Specifically, we should eliminate starch-based food items; we should not consume coffee, tea, or sweet products and never face tooth discolouration issues.
Also, if you are smoking or eating tobacco frequently, you should also eliminate such items from your life.
We have a long list of the causes of tooth discolouration/stains. But let’s focus on some of the most crucial ones. The first one is your food habits, if you are having bad food habits where you are eating fast food and sugar-based food items on a daily basis then there are high chances that you will face tooth stains.
Another factor behind the development of tooth stains is having no proper dental health regime. Make sure to brush your teeth twice a day, use a mouth freshener and floss as well.
When you notice tooth discolouration or stains around the tooth enamel and the outer parts of your teeth, that is considered extrinsic tooth discolouration. In most cases, this issue is faced due to our bad food and tobacco eating habits.
Whenever you face issues of tooth stains from within the teeth, that is considered intrinsic tooth discolouration. In this issue, you would be able to notice a greyish tone around your teeth.
Mostly you will face intrinsic tooth discolouration because of some medicines, genetics and more.
No, braces are not the cause of tooth stains at all. But you need to ensure that you are not consuming sweet or starch-based food items or products like tobacco and smoking because these are the primary reasons behind the development of tooth discolouration.
It ultimately depends upon your current situation of tooth discolouration and how properly you treat this issue. If you face extrinsic tooth discolouration, that can take a few months to get treated. While in the case of intrinsic tooth discolouration, it takes longer to get such an issue treated.
If you have just started noticing tooth discolouration issues around your teeth, you can remove tooth stains using home remedies. But if you have severe tooth discolouration issues, home remedies cannot completely treat that.
Yes, tooth discolouration is of different colors. People who smoke or eat tobacco daily will notice yellow tooth discolouration. If you have untreated tooth decay or tartar buildup on your teeth, such an issue leads to brown-coloured tooth discolouration. When your dental cavities are filled with silver sulfide, that leads to black-coloured tooth discolouration. Tooth discolouration also takes place in purple color.
