Everyone knows looks shouldn’t matter. Beauty, after all, is only skin deep, and no right-thinking person would admit to taking much account of how someone looks. Yet perhaps it’s time to say what we all secretly know, which is that looks do matter, maybe even more than most of us think.
At Smile Care, we understand your need to look good, better, and even best!
Your mouth and teeth form your smile, which is often the first thing people notice when they look at you. Simple procedures can help you have a more attractive smile and hence personality.
Basically, the stains or discolorations can be classified into three categories, each requiring a different treatment approach.
Caused by discoloring agents like tea, coffee, paan, tobacco, cigarette smoke, iron tonics, etc. These stains can be easily removed by professional cleaning followed by daily oral hygiene maintenance.
After the cleaning and polishing is done, your original tooth color is brought back. (photo) You can then consider bleaching or whitening treatments for a brighter smile.
Food particles and a sticky film comprising of salivary proteins and bacteria (called plaque) are the common soft deposits which stain the teeth. If this plaque is not removed regularly, calcium salts get deposited in the plaque, hardening it into a cement-like substance called tartar or calculus (picture). Plaque and calculus around or on teeth indicates ineffective oral hygiene.
Bad breath or halitosis, is a common occurrence in such patients.
Thorough professional cleaning and polishing would remove these stains.
Our team, Dr Rekha Mahajan, Dr Sanju Mehtre and Lata, can make your teeth stain-free and guide you on how to maintain that bright new smile!
These discolorations are actually a part of the tooth structure. These could be white spots on the enamel, or grayish-brown bands across the teeth. In case of fluorosis of teeth, the teeth may exhibit yellowish to dark brown discolorations and even pitting.
The cause of these intrinsic stains is a disturbance during tooth formation, like trauma, excessive fluoride intake, or antibiotics like tetracycline.
These structural defects require veneers or crowns as part of their treatment. (photo)
Teeth which have been traumatized (hit yet intact/broken due to fall), may darken to yellowish to grayish black color if the blood vessels supplying nutrition to the dental pulp die and disintegrate. In such cases, root canal treatment followed by internal bleaching is required. (photo)
Old silver fillings may also stain the adjacent tooth and look unsightly. Advanced dental decay also gives a brownish-black hue to the tooth. Both of these stains can be treated with tooth colored fillings or restorations.(photo)
Dr Uma Patil-Mahajan, our conservative dentist, specializes in treatments that involve getting rid of these tenacious intrinsic stains.
Bleaching is a supervised lightening of teeth, a non-harmful and often effective way to brighten the smile.
Oxidizing agents in various concentrations are used for bleaching, which upon activation release nascent oxygen which bleaches the stain causing deposits.
Bleaching can be vital bleaching, where in live teeth are bleached by applying a bleaching agent on the outer surface of the stained tooth or enamel. Gum protection is usually required. One visit to Smile Care, of about one hour duration, would be enough to transform your smile!
Non-vital teeth, or root canal treated teeth are bleached by opening up the canal, which previously housed the nerve, placing a bleaching agent inside and resealing the cavity by a temporary filling. This process of intra-canal bleaching can be repeated until satisfactory results are obtained.
For some patients, home-bleaching could also be a good alternative. It involves filling a plastic tray with milder bleaching gel and wearing it overnight for a few weeks. Remember, that home-bleaching is not right for everyone.
If you’d like to try home-bleaching, see us first. Although some bleaching kits are sold over the counter, dentist-supervised products are applied in a controlled environment and use a custom-fitted mouthguard to ensure minimal damage to the gums.
Cleaner, Whiter and brighter teeth and smile will be an asset whether it’s a family, social or a professional event. Make sure you have your best teeth forward!
A damaged or broken tooth can be saved and repaired to look and feel like the original tooth, sometimes even better!
When a tooth gets fractured, the primary consideration is whether the pulp has been damaged. Ultimately, the condition of the dental pulp and the amount of remaining tooth structure will dictate the choice of treatment.
Smoothening out or cosmetic contouring can be a good option for minor fractures of the tooth not involving the pulp, especially when very minimal amount of remaining tooth needs to be grinded to achieve a pleasant appearance. (photo)
Most of the times, however, grinding off of the tooth may not be the best alternative. Building up the broken portion, with a restorative material, may be a better choice in such cases.
The Tooth Can Be Rebuilt By
Introduction of composite resins revolutionized the way dentists repaired fractured teeth. Composite resin bonding involves applying a mouldable tooth colored material to the remaining tooth structure, which is then hardened by exposing it to a specific light.
This is the technique of choice whenever possible, particularly on the front teeth.