Improve your work performance
09/06/2022
Just as everyone is born with a different hair colour, tooth shade also varies. The colour of your teeth depends on your genetic makeup.
But leaving heredity aside, your teeth can suffer from tooth discolouration due to a number of other reasons. Ageing is one cause, and stains fall into two categories – intrinsic and extrinsic.
Extrinsic factors are brought about by the food you eat and your oral hygiene habits. The following are some of the foods which can easily stain the teeth:
- Coffee
- Citrus/acidic food
- Tea
- Soda
- Wine
- Soy sauce
- Berries
Stains left by consumption of these foods can be easily removed with timely and proper brushing. Failure to do so plus poor oral hygiene allows the stain to harden.
Intrinsic factors, on the other hand are brought about by the darkening of the inner structure of the tooth, called the dentin. This darkening can be caused by:
- Drugs – Taking of antibiotics during the second trimester of pregnancy or when you were 8 years old or younger.
- Fluoride – Too much fluoride can cause dental fluorosis, the appearance of white spots or lines on the teeth. This only affects children whose permanent teeth are still forming.
- Tooth Trauma – Accidents can cause internal bleeding of the tooth hence discolouring it.
- Dentinogenesis Imperfecta – A rare condition that causes teeth to be grayish, amber, or even purple.