I love that my family dentist is tech-savvy. It's so easy to book a dentist on his smartphone app if I have a tooth problem or if anyone in my family needs emergency problems (I can choose either my normal dentist or another dentist in his practise depending on availability). He also has some great cameras so that we can see exactly what is going on during treatment. I prefer not to see this, but my kids love to be able to see the dentist using his specialised tools to clean and repair their teeth. This blog has some tips on finding a tech-savvy dentist to help give your family the best possible dental care.
If your teeth are discoloured, there are several things that you can do to improve their appearance. Read on to learn more.
Get a scale-and-polish
If you drink several cups of coffee and black tea every day, or if you often indulge in a glass of red wine at the end of the workday, then your tooth discolouration could be the result of these drinking habits.
Black tea, coffee and red wine are all loaded with tannins which, whilst not harmful, can turn your teeth an unattractive shade of yellow.
Fortunately, discolouration caused by tannin build-up can be removed quite easily, by getting a dental treatment called a scale-and-polish.
The 'scale' portion of the treatment process involves the dentist using a dental scraping instrument to get rid of the solidified plaque on the teeth. After they have done this, they will then move onto the polishing stage, during which they will use an electrically-powered polishing brush and a gritty dental paste to remove all of the tannin stains on the teeth.
Have your discoloured teeth professionally whitened
If in addition to consuming tannin-rich drinks, you also smoke cigarettes on a regular basis, then you may need to have your teeth professionally whitened if you want to get rid of all of the discolouration.
The reason for this is as follows; whilst, as mentioned above, tannin-induced staining can usually be removed by a scale-and-polish treatment, the deep, yellow-brown stains caused by nicotine are much harder to get rid of in this manner.
In this situation, it would be best to book an appointment at a dental clinic in your town or city that offers cosmetic dentistry treatments and arrange for them to whiten your teeth.
At the beginning of the treatment, the dentist will examine your teeth, to determine the extent of the discolouration. They will then ask you how white you want your teeth to be. Based on this examination and discussion, they will create a solution of bleach which will enable them to achieve your desired results.
They will apply this solution of bleach to a set of dental moulds and then insert these moulds into your mouth. Depending on how much you want to lighten your teeth, the moulds may be left on for just a few minutes or up to a half an hour. After the moulds have been removed, you will be asked to rinse out your mouth to remove any residual bleach.
It's worth noting that a very strong bleach solution which is left on your teeth for a long period of time could cause temporary tooth sensitivity.
As such, if this is a dental issue that you already suffer from, it's important to inform your dentist of this fact when you book your appointment so that they can take this into account when making the bleach solution, and when deciding how long the whitening process should be. This, in turn, should ensure that the treatment does not exacerbate your existing sensitivity issues.
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