Welcome to my site! My name is Verity. I work as a receptionist in a dentist office. Every day for the past 20 years, I have come in to the office, worked on paperwork, and greeted patients. I love my job, because it has helped me meet a lot of really wonderful people. I have seen families grow up! But an added benefit from my job is that I have also picked up some small information about dentistry. I'm not one of the dentists, but I do know quite a bit about simple procedures and basic dental hygiene. Hopefully this blog can teach you something, but remember to always consult with your actual dentist for real professional advice!
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3 Cosmetic Dental Treatments To Treat Discolored Teeth
Eleanor Crawford
Tooth discoloration happens for many reasons. Sometimes, the cause of tooth discoloration is due to medicines such as tetracycline, oral habits like smoking, or genetics. Discolored teeth can affect your confidence and your ability to socialize with others. Fortunately, cosmetic dental care has several approaches that can treat discoloration.
1. Teeth whitening
When tooth discoloration is due to staining from dark-colored foods like pasta sauce, or oral habits like smoking, the staining is usually extrinsic. This means that the discoloration of your teeth is in the outer layer of tooth enamel. Tooth whitening is an effective way of removing surface stains from teeth.
Teeth whitening works by using whitening gel to break up staining particles on the surface of teeth. This treatment can remove discoloration and help you to achieve the shade of white that you want. However, if your discoloration is not due to surface staining, then you may need to opt for another cosmetic dental treatment.
2. Composite bonding
Some discoloration cannot be treated with teeth whitening. For instance, if your teeth are naturally yellow because you have thin enamel or thick dentin (the layer under enamel), then no amount of whitening can treat this issue. Fortunately, you can cover teeth to disguise discoloration. One way of doing this is with composite bonding.
Composite resin is similar to the cement that dentists use to bond dental restorations to teeth, such as crowns and dental bridges. A cosmetic dentist can apply composite resin to the surface of a discolored tooth to cover up discoloration. Once the bonding is in place, a cosmetic dentist will then harden the bonding with a special UV light, and then polish the bonding.
This method of treating tooth discoloration is popular because one bonding session takes no more than an hour and is cheap compared to porcelain veneers.
3. Porcelain veneers
A longer-lasting, albeit more expensive, alternative to composite bonding is porcelain veneers. Many patients choose porcelain veneers to cover discoloration because porcelain veneers are more durable and thus last longer than composite bonding.
Of all of the procedures to treat discoloration, porcelain veneers take the longest to complete. This is because your cosmetic dentist needs to work with a ceramist to create veneers that are indistinguishable from your natural teeth. This process takes about two weeks. But once your veneers are ready, your porcelain veneers can cover up discoloration, cracks, and gaps with ease.
If your smile is suffering because of tooth discoloration, then cosmetic dentistry may be the solution. Seek out a cosmetic dentist near you and discuss your options with them.
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