HEALTH

Yellow teeth: causes, remedies and prevention

Having a beautiful, healthy and well-groomed smile greatly increases one's self-esteem, confidence in others and security in everyday life. 

Some people, however, experience a sense of discomfort and shame due to the yellowing of their teeth. Yellow teeth are not always the result of inadequate oral hygiene, but can be the consequence of many factors, from genetics to foods ingested to liquids drunk, among many other things.

Fortunately, modern medicine is well aware of the causes of yellowing teeth, as well as all the prevention and especially treatment strategies.

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Yellow teeth: causes, remedies and prevention
Having a beautiful, healthy and well-groomed smile greatly increases one's self-esteem, confidence in others and security in everyday life. Some people, however, experience a sense of discomfort and shame due to the yellowing of their teeth. Yellow teeth are not always the result of insufficient oral hygiene, but can be the consequence of many factors, from genetics to foods ingested to liquids drunk, among many other things.
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What does teeth color depend on
The actual tissues on which teeth colouring depends are two: enamel, the outermost, and dentine, the innermost. Three main factors determine it: hue, chroma and value. Hue is the colour of dentine, chroma is the saturation level of the hue and value represents brightness.
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Genetics is also at stake
As Dr Elisabetta Polizzi, coordinator of the Degree Course in Dental Hygiene and director of the Centre for Oral Hygiene and Prevention at the Vita Salute San Raffaele University of Milan, confirms, genetics plays a very important role. In fact, in spite of all the attention one can put into it, there are people who simply have healthier and whiter teeth than others. It is therefore not always a question of discipline, some people simply have more problems than others.
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Extrinsic causes of yellowing
Extrinsic reasons are understood to be the deposition of chromogenic substances on tooth enamel, the result of prolonged consumption of, for example, foods such as chocolate, liquorice, soy sauces, coffee, red wine and drinks rich in dark dyes. Smoking also causes yellowing of the teeth due to nicotine. This colour change can also occur as a result of poor oral hygiene, which leads to the accumulation of plaque and tartar. Poor salivation also damages natural enamel.
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Intrinsic causes of yellowing
Intrinsic causes may be, for example, malformative processes, abnormalities in enamel formation, caries in childhood, hereditary syndromes and the considerable use of tetracyclines and other antibiotics.
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Professional cleaning sessions are the first solution
Each person therefore has their own natural tooth colour; dentists recommend cleaning and oral hygiene sessions of one to four times a year. Of the latest generation are so-called air polishing systems, based on amino acids that can remove everything that adheres to the tooth.
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Professional dental debarkation
In some cases, however, dental cleaning is not enough to restore beautiful tooth colour. In these circumstances it is necessary to resort to tooth whitening treatments, which must be performed by a dentist or dental hygienist. Indeed, in the presence of caries or periodontitis, great precision is needed to prevent the substances used from worsening the situation.
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Whitening toothpastes
Some treatments, such as whitening toothpaste, can be bought in pharmacies, but they are obviously not as effective as the methods used by dentists. Specifically, these toothpastes may contain whitening agents in a much lower concentration than those used in professional practices, and therefore need to be used long and consistently for them to be effective.
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28/03/2024
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