Why Do Teeth Darken As We Age?

Many factors work to destroy the naturally white smile we were born with. Substances such as tobacco and certain foods and drinks continually work on our teeth causing our pearly whites to fade to grey. Hot coffee and tea are especially hazardous to your smile because the increased temperature change of your teeth (hot and cold cycling) causes the teeth to expand and contract. This cycling allows stains to penetrate the tooth’s enamel. Cutting down on tea and coffee, complemented by regular brushing and flossing, can go a long way to reducing these stains, and a professional polishing will ensure that your smile shines brighter, longer.

Other stains are more difficult to remove because they are trapped in tiny fractures within the tooth's surface. The only way to beat these stains is with professional whitening or with boding, a treatment that fills in and covers microcracks with a special tooth-coloured material.

Faulty hardening of the tooth before birth can cause bright white splotches or brownish grey bands across the teeth. Only professional whitening and masking techniques will revive smiles that have been dulled by the very toughest of tooth stains.