photo credit: termie

The number one reason that people seek out the services of a cosmetic dentist is teeth stains. Hundreds of products on the market today promise teeth whitening but most people have no idea what caused their teeth to discolor and end up causing more damage by improperly using these products.

Before you spend a dime on teeth whiteners, you need to understand what kind of stains you have. There are two types of stains which ar extrinsic and intrinsic. Extrinsic stains are on the outside of your teeth and are caused by consumption of dark liquids, smoking and micro-cracks in the enamel that build up debris. Intrinsic stains are one that are inside the tooth. Chewing tobacco, age, genetics, and the early use of tetracycline can cause these stains.

While in the past, it was easy to remove extrinsic stains and impossible to remove deeper internal stains, modern cosmetic dentistry has been succeeding at getting rid of this deeper discoloration.