Over time, your pearly white teeth might change their color. They could turn yellow, develop dark stains, or become duller. In many cases, diminished tooth color can occur due to factors outside of your control.
You may feel self-conscious about the way dental discoloration makes your smile appear. But you can meet with your dentist for a cosmetic consultation to find targeted and individualized treatments that can enhance your tooth color according to your smile aesthetic goals.
You can choose from a number of dental solutions depending on the types of stains you form on your smile. Read on to discover four cosmetic dental treatments that can give you the whiter smile of your dreams.
Professional Teeth Whitening
Your dentist can perform in-office teeth whitening treatment in the event of extrinsic dental stains, a type of discoloration that forms closer to the surface of the tooth enamel. During a single office visit, your dentist will apply bleaching gel to the teeth to lift these stains so that they can easily wash away. They repeat this process until you achieve your desired result: a brighter smile.
Your dentist can also provide you with a whitening treatment you can complete at home within your own busy schedule. They will make custom trays that fit your unique smile and fill them with bleaching gel. Then you wear them as directed at home to gradually brighten your tooth color.
Tooth Bonding
Bleaching agents in whitening treatment will not address all types of dental discoloration. If you have intrinsic stains, deeper in the tooth, bleach will not reach deep enough to brighten your smile. But your dentist can still offer cosmetic dental solutions to make your smile whiter.
Tooth bonding treatment involves the dentist preparing the surface of affected teeth. Then they will apply composite resin bonding material to the teeth and sculpt it to cover stubborn stains on the teeth. They cure the resin to harden it into place.
You can enjoy brighter teeth thanks to the tooth-colored resin for three to ten years. Follow your dentist’s guidelines though because bonding can stain if you are not careful.
Porcelain Veneers
For long-lasting smile enhancement, your dentist might suggest porcelain veneers. These custom-made caps attach to the front of a patient’s teeth to boost their appearance. Veneers can make the teeth look straighter, fuller, and whiter.
Dentists can choose the color of the veneers to match the rest of the smile to ensure a finish that looks both natural and gorgeous. They will retain their white color as well because they resist staining. Veneers can stay in place on the smile for fifteen years.
Dental Crowns
You might think about restorative dentistry when it comes to dental crowns. Dentists use crowns to restore the structure of a damaged tooth. But crowns can offer aesthetic benefits to enhance a tooth’s color as well.
Like veneers, dentists make crowns on an individualized basis for each patient. So the crown can make a tooth brighter when a dentist secures this cap of the surface of a tooth. It can cover stubborn stains while also improving the tooth’s health and function.