With all the holiday festivities in full swing, now is the perfect time to give your appearance the little boost it needs to really wow them at the next party or event. If you want to spruce up your smile then it’s high time you talked to your Findlay, OH dentist Dr. Krystal DeClerck about professional teeth whitening and whether it’s the right cosmetic treatment for you.

What causes dental stains and discolorations?

Chances are you remember a time when your smile was vibrant, but over the years certain factors have taken their toll on your teeth. Here are some of the most common dental stain culprits:

• Foods and drinks: Coffee, wine, tea, dark sauces and berries are only a few of the dark-colored foods and drinks that can cause dental stains.
• Tobacco: Both the tar and nicotine found in tobacco can cause some difficult-to-remove stains for your smile.
• Aging: Over time the outer layer of tooth enamel begins to thin out, which can cause the softer, yellowish area known as the dentin to shine through.
• Medication: Certain high blood pressure medications, antibiotics and antihistamines can cause teeth to darken. Radiation and chemotherapy can also have this effect.
• Trauma: If you’ve sustained a direct injury to a tooth the tooth may change color.

How Can Teeth Whitening Help My Smile?

Professional teeth whitening is performed by your Findlay cosmetic dentist to remove stubborn dental stains and to get smiles drastically brighter in just one hour. By using a strong, highly concentrated bleaching gels that break up stains we can get some teeth up to eight shades brighter in just one visit. This is not like the whitening gels you get over-the-counter; these are much stronger than anything you’ll find for at-home use, which is what makes them so effective.

It’s important to note that while in-office teeth whitening is one of the easiest and most effective ways to get a whiter smile in a shorter time span it is only effective on certain stains. Teeth whitening is recommend for those with yellowing external stains, which are usually caused by foods, drinks, tobacco and aging.

Those with brown stains may not respond quite as well and those with internal stains that are gray or blue in tone may not respond at all. Internal stains are caused by certain medications or direct trauma and may require veneers or other cosmetic dentistry to treat these issues. Your dentist in Findlay, OH would be happy to help you determine whether professional whitening can address your dental stains.

Get a new you for a New Year. If you want to brighten your smile this holiday season turn to Dr. Krystal DeClerck at DeClerck Family Dental.