Do you also wonder what causes yellow teeth and why they lose their white shine? This discoloration is actually not such a big problem, but nowadays white radiant teeth have become a norm. Yellow teeth are increasingly perceived as unsightly. It makes you more and more insecure about your teeth and makes smiling restrained.
What are the causes of yellow teeth?
Drinking coffee, wine, tea, cola or other drinks containing dyes regularly. These drinks cause the discoloration of your teeth. They mainly leave a layer on the teeth and molars. This layer penetrates over time to your glaze and then it discolours. The glaze is very affected by acidic foods. Due to the acid content in foods, your glaze becomes thinner and more transparent. This makes your dentin in your teeth more visible through the enamel. Dentine is yellow in color, which is why the teeth discolour.
Below I will tell you extensively what the most common causes of yellow teeth are.
Be careful with acidic food and drink
One of the most common causes of yellow teeth is mainly: acids! Citric and phosphoric acid in soft drinks and in, for example, apples, grapes and almost all citrus fruits break down the calcium in your enamel and thereby aggravate the formation of the grooves to which the dyes can adhere.
With a pH value of 2.4, cola is one of the most acidic types of soft drink and also contains chromogens. So bad for your teeth.
TIP: Eat fruit all at once instead of spending hours on a bunch of grapes. Rinse your mouth with water after consuming soda or fruit, but don\'t brush your teeth right away, as the enamel is fragile after an attack from acids. Mix smoothies with milk and add fruit to the yoghurt, because milk products form a chemical counterbalance to the acid.
Genetically determined
The actual color of your teeth and the degree to which they will discolor over the years is actually partly hereditary. The dentine is yellow in color, so that the enamel layer over it determines to what extent that yellow color shines through. The thickness and strength of the tooth enamel is genetically determined. If someone in your family has yellow teeth, chances are that your teeth will also yellow over time.
Age
Huh, wait a minute? My age? Yes! Your age can also play a factor in the discoloration of your teeth. The discoloration of your teeth is simply a slow process. As you get older, your teeth won’t get any whiter. When exactly the discoloration occurs and to what extent depends on your genetic predisposition. Hence, you have white, healthy teeth during your childhood. The younger you are, the whiter your teeth are. Therefore, teeth whitening in young people also results much faster than in some elderly people.
Tartar
Dental plaque is the thin sticky layer, usually this is an invisible layer that remains on your teeth after eating. It mainly consists of food residues, saliva and bacteria that process sugar and carbohydrates in your mouth into acid. In some places where you do not remove plaque daily, it can harden into tartar after 2 days. Also tartar does not make your teeth cleaner and whiter.
To ensure that plaque develops further into tartar, it is important to have very good oral hygiene. This means that you will not only brush teeth twice a day, but also that you will use something between the teeth. Think of a toothpick, floss thread or an interdental brush. You should use this because a toothbrush cannot go everywhere with its hairs.
A visit to the dentist can not hurt either, regularly go for a check-up with the dentist or with a dental hygienist to have a professional dental cleaning performed to remove any tartar present.
Smoking
Do you also smoke a pack of cigarettes every day? Then try to stop / reduce if you want to keep your teeth. The nicotine creates a dark brown deposit on your teeth. The annoying discoloration penetrates the tooth enamel, so that your teeth not only turn yellow, but eventually also turn dark brown or black. So the longer you smoke or have smoked, the harder it will be to remove this brown nicotine discoloration from your teeth.
Medication
Certain medications can cause stains on your teeth. For example, dark gray or brown annoying stripes can appear on your teeth. You can also get yellow teeth. Fluoride can help against this, because it mainly stops tooth decay. Especially in children, where the teeth are developing, it can therefore be very helpful to give fluoride. Be careful, too much fluoride can lead to fluorosis, causing white spots on the teeth.
Blow or crack
Yellow teeth can also happen from cracks in your enamel. Your enamel breaks through injuries, teeth grinding, or falls. Those cracks are the perfect place for plaque or plaque to settle, which will eventually cause yellow teeth.
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Tips for whiter teeth
- It is advisable to brush your teeth well. Preferably 2/3 times a day after every meal.
- Pay close attention to what you eat and drink daily, for example, drink less coffee and tea.
- Use a color lipstick that makes your teeth appear whiter.
- Do not smoke or stop smoking.
- Ask your dentist for advice about the discolourations in your teeth.
- Accept that snow-white teeth are not natural.
- Drink a glass of water after drinking a soda, this will wash away the deposits.
- Know that light yellow teeth are really stronger than white ones.
- It is also recommended to have the teeth cleaned by a dental hygienist at least twice a year.
- Visit the dentist at least twice a year for a periodic inspection.