Whiter Teeth! Part 1: Why are They Yellow?

Why Do Teeth Get Yellow?
The intrinsic (normal) color of your teeth is related to the color and thickness of the enamel and dentin, as well as the types of foods and liquids you ingest.  The thinner the enamel, the darker the underlying dentin; the more coffee, tea, cola beverages, and red wine you drink, the darker your teeth will be.  Cracks that are commonly found in the enamel of your teeth may provide a pathway for discoloring fluids to reach the underlying dentin.



If you have a yellow, brown, or orange shade to your teeth, in most cases it can be made lighter by the whitening procedure.  Whitening works very well in removing age-related darkening of your teeth.  This age-related darkening is most likely due to years of drinking the beverages discussed above, or other environmental factors, rather than genetics.  No drilling or anesthesia is required for whitening.  Your teeth will not become weaker.  Because the mineralization of teeth varies so much from person to person, there is no way to determine how many office visits it will take to effect the color change change or how white the teeth will get.  The darker your teeth are, the more time required for the change and the more distinctive the color change will be.

The whitening procedure will also work to a lesser degree on teeth with tetracycline discoloration.  We have seen several fair to good results from both in-office and at-home whitening.  It does take more time to achieve good results on this type of stain, and unfortunately, sometimes the change is minor.

If you have any questions about stained teeth or whitening procedures, please don't hesitate to ask us at (512)250-5012. -Omni Dental Group