Are Tooth Gaps Harmful?
A tooth gap might be popular with some celebrities, but not all tooth gaps are a sign of a healthy smile. Here’s how to tell if your tooth gap needs to be treated to protect your oral health.
Few things can destroy your confidence more quickly than yellow, dingy, stained teeth. Fortunately, teeth whitening can help. In fact, every year, millions of Americans turn to tooth whitening to restore whiter, brighter teeth.
Led by Marvin Taylor, DDS, our team at Dr. Taylor’s Family Dental Center in Waterford, Michigan, offers a variety of teeth whitening treatments to help people look and feel their best. If your teeth look yellowed or dingy, our whitening treatments could be just the solution you’re looking for.
Lots of factors can cause your teeth to look yellow, gray, or dingy.
Whether you smoke it or chew it, tobacco can cause yellow and brown stains on your teeth, thanks to the tar and nicotine it contains. Smoking also increases your risk of gum disease and tooth loss, which means when you quit the tobacco habit, you reap multiple oral health benefits.
Most people know coffee, tea, and red wine can discolor teeth, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Any food or drink with intense natural or artificial pigments can stain teeth.
Metabolic diseases that weaken tooth enamel, some types of antibiotics, and radiation and chemotherapy treatments can all cause your teeth to look yellow and stained.
As we get older, the outer layer of tooth enamel gets thinner, exposing more of the yellowish dentin underneath. Wear-and-tear on our teeth can also make them look grayer and dingier.
Like skin color, hair color, and eye color, the color of your teeth can be influenced by your genes. Your genetic background can also determine the thickness of your enamel.
Regular brushing and flossing are important for preventing cavities and gum disease. They also help keep your teeth looking white and bright by removing food residues before they have a chance to penetrate the tooth surface.
Many tooth stains are superficial (extrinsic stains), affecting the top layers of tooth material. Some stains occur inside the tooth (intrinsic stains), including discoloration caused by illness, medicines, and root canals. Our team offers treatments for superficial and deep staining, so you can get the dazzling results you’re looking for.
Uses a special whitening solution combined with accelerated light therapy to get rid of the most common types of tooth stains. Unlike home products, the ZOOM! teeth whitening system is designed to work in just a single, one-hour visit, whitening teeth by up to eight shades.
This in-office whitening treatment uses a powerful whitening gel combined with laser technology to get your teeth 6-12 shades whiter. The gel stays on your teeth for about 20 minutes, making this a good option for people with sensitive teeth and gums.
Dental veneers are made of durable, beautiful porcelain, expertly tinted to match surrounding teeth. Applying a veneer takes two office visits — one to prepare the tooth and one to apply the final veneer, which is made in a special dental lab. Veneers are highly resistant to stains and can last for a decade or more.
Lumineers are like veneers, only they’re even thinner. Lumineers have a more translucent quality than porcelain veneers, and tooth preparation is minimal. Because very little tooth material is removed when applying them, Lumineers may be removed if you change your mind in the future.
Like veneers, bonding is applied to the surface of a stained tooth. Bonding materials can be tinted and shaped to blend in beautifully, and they can be applied in one visit. While durable, they won’t last as long as veneers, and they also stain more easily.
Don’t let tooth stains keep you from feeling confident about your smile. Our team can craft a solution based on your needs and goals for teeth that look healthy and beautiful. To learn how we can help you, book an appointment online or over the phone with Dr. Taylor's Family Dental Center today.
