The importance of a good smile shouldn’t be understated. They can be tied directly to our sense of confidence, how people perceive us, and how we express ourselves. One of the main causes of a lack of confidence in that smile is the danger of discoloration. It happens to all of us, usually as a result of age, but that doesn’t mean that you have to sit back and accept it.
Improve how you take care of your teeth
While age can play a factor in discoloration, the truth is that for a lot of people, especially younger people, it’s all going to come down to how we take care of our teeth and our routine oral health habits. Teaching good health habits is best done young, but it’s never too late to start improving. For instance, you should make sure you avoid drinking too many drinks that can stain your teeth, like soda, without a straw. Be sure to brush and rinse your teeth every day, too, especially after meals, and flossing is vital.
Reversing the effects
If you are already dealing with the demoralizing effects of discoloration, then prevention might not be enough, you need to find a way to undo the damage, as well. For more recent stains, using charcoal toothpaste might be just what you need. Otherwise, you’re likely to get the best help from professionals, like Sage Dental, A dentist will be able to take a look at your teeth and give you a good idea of what shade they can whiten them to. Usually, they will promote a mixture of at-home whitening kits, as well as in-chair treatments, that tend to offer much stronger solutions than you can access at home, alone. Of course, they will also recommend the steps that you can take to prevent that discoloration from happening more.
Other aesthetic treatments
Sometimes, whitening treatments may not be enough to undo all of the discoloration. For instance, blood vessel damage can lead to having one very badly discolored tooth, even if the rest of your smile is relatively bright. As such, there are aesthetic treatments such as fitting a dental veneer that might be a better choice for you. In this case, you affix a thin shell of porcelain on the tooth of the tooth. Veneers can be great for not just discoloration, but all kinds of minor damage to the tooth, including slight cases of misalignment. Some dentists will also use composite bonding material to directly cover the tooth, which can help to improve its appearance. However, if the damage is extensive beyond being aesthetic, then a dentist might simply think to remove it and give you an artificial replacement, instead.
Regardless of how hopeless you might think it is, there is almost always a solution to help you improve and protect your smile, including in cases of discoloration. However, the first step towards those solutions involves visiting the right dentist, so don’t sit on the matter for too long.
