Stained Teeth: Cosmetic Dentistry Can Make Them White Again
Stained teeth can leave you feeling less than confident in your appearance. Thankfully, that doesn’t mean you have to live with discolored, yellowed teeth. Recent advances in cosmetic dentistry include a number of effective, non-invasive stained teeth treatments that are now available.
Learn about the causes of stained teeth, the various types of teeth stains, and the ways that Dr. Rinaldi, a leading cosmetic dentist, can help you achieve a healthy, youthful smile.
What Causes Stained Teeth?
A number of variables cause stained teeth, including oral hygiene practices, the consumption of certain foods and beverages, and the use of some types of over-the-counter and prescription medications.
The enamel of your teeth naturally wears away as you age. You may notice that the older you get, the more discolored your teeth become. Wearing dental braces for a prolonged period of time can also lead to yellow stains and white spots on your teeth.
Extrinsic Tooth Stains
Also called external tooth stains, extrinsic tooth stains, are stains that impact only the outermost layer of the tooth, the enamel.
Drinking dark-colored beverages such as red wines, berry juices, and colas are causes of extrinsic stains. Smoking tobacco products or cannabis can also cause stained teeth.
Dr. Rinaldi’s cosmetic dentistry team specializes in treating stained teeth. He can treat extrinsic stains successfully with specialized and safe bleaching agents. Dr. Rinaldi then treats the teeth with a non-invasive dental light. In many cases, patients see exceptional results with a single treatment session.
Intrinsic Tooth Stains
While extrinsic tooth stains are stains that are on the surface of the tooth, intrinsic tooth stains are a type of stain that impacts the inner layers of the teeth.
Intrinsic tooth stains permeate through the tooth’s dentin, the rigid layer that lies beneath the tooth enamel. This type of tooth stain can be caused by overexposure to fluoride. This can happen if you consume heavily fluoridated drinking water over an extended period of time.
Deeply stained teeth can also be the result of oral trauma that impacts the tooth roots or causes internal bleeding. Some prescription medications including tetracycline antibiotics used during childhood can lead to the development of intrinsic tooth stains. The same is true for patients whose birth mother took tetracycline antibiotics during the 2nd and 3rd trimesters of pregnancy.
Because intrinsic stains impact the deeper layers of the teeth, surface whitening treatments rarely deliver lasting results. Your cosmetic dentist can provide you with a number of options to deal with deep dental stains such as veneers.
Age-Related Teeth Stains
Many people view stained teeth as an inevitable consequence of aging, but that doesn’t have to be the case.
As you age, the enamel of your teeth wears down, and this exposes the dentin, a yellow-colored layer. Not only does the previously-white enamel become thinner, but your dentin becomes darker as you age. This combination of thinner enamel and darker dentin increases the yellow appearance of your teeth. This is the most common cause of discolored teeth among adults and seniors.
Treating Stained Teeth
Dr. Rinaldi and our team of highly-skilled cosmetic dentists offer a number of proven treatments for extrinsic and intrinsic tooth stains.
Teeth Whitening
Teeth whitening is popular among our patients because of the dramatic improvements that our take-home teeth whitening treatments have.
Dr. Rinaldi and his team provide you with a fully customized take-home whitening kit. These whitening kits give you the flexibility to treat your stained teeth in the comfort of your own home.
Porcelain Veneers
If the stains on your teeth go beyond the enamel, or if you’re dealing with age-related enamel loss, you may want to explore what porcelain veneers can do for you.
Dr. Rinaldi has a reputation for placing beautiful and natural-looking porcelain veneers. His cosmetic dentistry talents are highly sought-after by both patients and other cosmetic dentists seeking training in porcelain veneers. During his esteemed career, Dr. Rinaldi has placed over 30,000 porcelain veneers to cover stains, repair gaps between teeth, and strengthen natural teeth.
Porcelain veneers are exceptionally comfortable and natural-looking. Unlike your natural enamel, veneers are highly resistant to stains and then veneers themselves don’t decay over time.
Combine White Teeth with Invisalign
At Rinaldi Dental Arts, many of our patients want to combine a brighter smile with straighter teeth. We offer Invisalign, an advanced orthodontic treatment that delivers all the benefits of traditional dental braces without the associated drawbacks of metal dental appliances.
Invisalign is an advanced cosmetic dentistry treatment that used clear, patient-removable dental aligners to repair misaligned and crooked teeth. Each Invisalign aligner is custom-molded to your teeth by your cosmetic dentist, and every aligner work is worn for about 14 to 21 days until the desired effect is achieved.
Straightening your teeth is not only for teenagers. Invisalign is for adults too, making this treatment a great option for anyone who wants a smile they can feel good about.
Contact Dr. Rinaldi Today
To learn more about the wide range of treatment options available for your teeth, schedule an appointment with Rinaldi Dental Arts today. We can help you achieve a healthier, brighter smile.
