I'm not a coffee drinker or smoker, so why are my teeth stained? i think i take pretty good care of my teeth, and have never smoked nor been much of a coffee drinker, but my teeth seem about as stained as people i know who do. do teeth just naturally beco

Athens, Teeth : Athens, teeth naturally accumulate stain over time. Coffee, tea and smoking are the most common. But things with strong color such as blueberry and pomegranate can cause stain. Medications and certain rinses as well are known to lead to staining. My advice is to get a good cleaning and see if they improve. While you are there you can have a further discussion with your dentist about the possible causes. Hope that is helpful, michael i. Wollock, dmd, agd fellow dentistry at suburban square 610-649-0313 www.Dentistryatsuburbansquare.Com.

Basically, : Basically, yes. As we age, our teeth naturally darken by becoming denser, in addition to accumulating stain over the years. Through normal wear & tear, our teeth's pulpal tissue- "the nerve"-reacts to external stimuli and lay down dense dentin for protection, which causes our teeth to appear to darken over the years. The only way to make you teeth look "whiter" is to whiten or bleach them. You should always start with a dental check-up and professional teeth cleaning. This will remove surface stains your dentist can evaluate your teeth to see if they can be whiten. If you have cavities in your teeth you want whitened, they must be treated first or the whitening material can hurt your teeth. They are many over the counter products that can help, like listerine whitening, whitening toothpastes, and white-strips. Again, it is very important to get a dental check-up first. If you start whitening your teeth without proper guidance, you may end up with a serious problem.

Many : Many things stain teeth, and the degree to which a stain is absorbed by a tooth depends upon a host of variables. First of all you probably know that in all biological systems there is a variation in characteristics that follows a gaussian distribution. Some responses are small and are few most are in a normal range, and some are extreme at the opposite end of the scale. Some peoples teeth stain easily and others do not. Now lets consider the factors. The outer layer of the tooth is enamel it is usually a light whitish gray color is hard and yet permeable. The permeability varies so does the density and so does the smoothness of the enamel. A rougher surface will collect plaque and food stain more easily that a smooth surface. Within the tooth the dentin is a yellower bone like material that shows through the enamel making the tooth look darker and more yellow. If a person has thin enamel and thick dentin their teeth will look dramatically deeper in color than another with thick enamel and thinner dentin. So you might have thicker dentin. The rate of salivary flow also influences the way the teeth retain stain. Plentiful saliva washes and neutralizes stains. As you get older the outer layer of the tooth thins. As it does so the dentin show through more than before so that out teeth look darker with time. Ask you dentist to talk to you about cosmetic tooth whitening. Best wishes dr neil mcleod dds dentistry that lasts - quality that counts.