Everybody slowly starts to see their pearly whites lose their luster throughout the years. It seems like no matter how much we brush, floss, and use whitening treatment our teeth always seem to fade back into a shade we don’t like. The problem with stained teeth sometimes goes beyond just surface level care. The color or shade of your teeth can be revealing to your health and eating habits.
Light gray or Yellow (translucent) Teeth – The light gray or pale yellowish teeth, that up close you can almost see the lines of tooth enamel is a common coloration in older adults and seniors. Once you lose all of your baby teeth, your permanent teeth have a harder structure that contains more dentin. Dentin is the top layer of the tooth that covers the enamel. As we age the dentin structure starts to deteriorate and causes the enamel to be more exposed which brings out the pale yellow or grey color.
Yellow Stains – Yellow teeth is the most common stain color that can come from your diet. Your choices of acidic food and drinks like coffee, tea, and red wine are all high in acidic contact that can stain your teeth yellow and can wear away enamel. Brushing and using mouthwash regularly can lessen the yellow stains. In addition to stains, these acidic drinks cause plaque to build up on your teeth, this causes the yellow color to appear darker and if untreated, permanently stained that would need professional whitening treatment.
Brown stains – Brown spots on your teeth is the most severe of all the stains. Browning is usually a sign of untreated yellow plaque that has worsened over time. Often times, when someone has brown spots, it is a result of smoking or chewing tobacco habits. Brown stains are the hardest to reverse with home care. If you start to see brown stains appear on your teeth, it is time to schedule an appointment with the dentist!