Why Do Teeth Darken?

Encinitas, Carlsbad, and San Diego

Discolored teeth can be a serious problem, preventing you from smiling due to self-consciousness. Unfortunately, many causes of darkening teeth are related to factors beyond our control. If discolored enamel is adversely affecting your quality of life, San Diego, California area cosmetic dentist Dr. Mary Walsh-Cole provides a variety of tooth whitening options.

 

Causes of Discoloration

Several substances can stain the surface of the teeth, including:

• Nicotine
• Dark colored foods
• Dark colored beverages
• Coffee or tea

 

One way to prevent the teeth from darkening is to avoid these substances. However, this is not always practical. For cases where the surface of the teeth is stained, known as extrinsic staining, tooth whitening is a great option to restore your teeth to their normal color.

 

Other causes of discoloration are known as intrinsic staining. This means that the discoloration is actually a part of the tooth. Causes of intrinsic staining include:

• Fluoride
• Certain types of medication
• Damage to the tooth

 

Fluoride and certain drugs, including some antibiotics, cause the permanent teeth to develop with dark lines or stains if they are ingested at a young age or by the mother during pregnancy. This type of staining must be treated differently than extrinsic staining. Dr. Cole offers KoR Deep Bleaching to treat intrinsic staining.

How Tooth Whitening Works

 

Dr. Mary Walsh-Cole offers several types of tooth whitening in her San Diego, California offices. Zoom! tooth whitening is an in-office treatment that can produce dramatic results in a single session. KoR Deep Bleaching combines in-office treatment with take-home trays for staining that cannot be sufficiently treated with more traditional whitening approaches. She also provides take-home kits that offer convenient at-home whitening using custom made trays for results far superior to over the counter tooth whitening products.

 

If you are self-conscious about the color of your teeth and wish to find out more about tooth whitening, please contact Mary Walsh-Cole, DMD. With cosmetic dentistry offices in the San Diego, Encinitas and Carlsbad, California area, Dr. Walsh-Cole will help you make your smile the very best it can be.