Dentistry for seniors suggests tooth whitening can be done at any age of adulthood. Tooth whitening products remove built-up stains and brighten the enamel. They are affordable and easy-to-use solutions to the problem of aging yellow teeth.
It's never too late to improve your smile. Even if you are in your 70s or 80s, you can still have your teeth whitened. Teeth whitening is a safe and effective way to improve the appearance of your smile, and it can be done at any age.
If you want to keep your teeth sparkling white as you get older, you have a few options. A whitening toothpaste includes low-concentration bleach, hydrogen peroxide, or urea oxide. This is an easy method because it doesn't add any steps to your daily routine, but it does take time to be effective.
Patients with the following conditions or circumstances may not be the best candidates: Pregnant and lactating women. People who have restorations such as fillings, implants, crowns and dental bridges. Children under 16 years of age.
As you begin to age, your tooth enamel will start to wear away, revealing the dentin within the tooth. This dentin has a yellowish colour. Your teeth will also begin to create more dentin as you age, which also causes teeth to have a darker appearance.
Dentistry for seniors suggests tooth whitening can be done at any age of adulthood. Tooth whitening products remove built-up stains and brighten the enamel. They are affordable and easy-to-use solutions to the problem of aging yellow teeth.
Some of the best toothpastes for older adults include the Sensodyne Pronamel Daily Protection Enamel Toothpaste for Sensitive Teeth and Sensodyne Rapid Relief Sensitive Toothpaste. Other products worth mentioning are 3M Oral Care Clinpro Tooth Crème Anti Cavity Toothpaste and Colgate Sensitive Toothpaste.
Teeth that have yellowed with age
As we age, the enamel becomes thinner due to wear and tear, revealing the underlying layer of tooth structure called dentin. Dentin is naturally yellowish and cannot be lightened with teeth whitening products.
For the safest and most effective at-home teeth whitening method, the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry (AACD) recommends you use custom-fitted trays supplied by your dentist. Ill-fitting teeth whitening trays can cause the gel to ooze out and irritate your gums.
What are the risks of teeth whitening? No matter what treatment you use, there's a chance your gums will be sensitive to the chemicals used in teeth whitening, particularly if you already have sensitive teeth. There's also a chance of burns to gums and some of the whitening kits used at home can harm tooth enamel.
What Can Be Done to Whiten Yellow Teeth? If you're looking for a radical change in the coloring of your teeth, you need professional-grade whitening to get the job done. Your cosmetic dentist can provide treatment that penetrates deep into the enamel and removes years of stains with a powerful bleaching agent.
Dentin, the hard inner surface of the tooth, contains a pulp that is yellowish in color. As enamel thins, the thicker interior will show through the more transparent, thin enamel surface. Yellow teeth can make you look even older than you are as well as give you an unhealthy appearance.
If you see celebrities with perfectly white, straight, and uniform-looking teeth, they likely have veneers. Unlike teeth whitening, veneers are more permanent. There are various types of materials used, but porcelain and composite are the most common types.
Most commonly, tooth darkening occurs as a natural effect of aging. As we get older, the outer hard tissue covering our teeth, called enamel, wears away and exposes the darker dentin beneath it. This can cause our teeth to appear more gray or yellow rather than white.
Some of those options avoid chemicals; however, current studies show that natural ingredients — such as strawberries, coconut oil and charcoal — may remove superficial stains but do not change tooth color. Refrain from high-colored foods and drinks. Your beautifully whitened teeth can be maintained.
Baking soda is good for teeth whitening because it is a very mild abrasive, which helps remove stains from the surface of your teeth. In addition, baking soda is alkaline and salty, which helps lighten acid-based food stains – such as those from coffee, tea, and red wine – on teeth.
One hydrogen peroxide-based product the dentists prefer is Opalescence Boost. Its main ingredient is a gel that contains 38% hydrogen peroxide. This is what brightens and whitens your teeth. Another chemical, potassium nitrate, is also applied to strengthen the tooth enamel.
Because baking soda removes discoloration from the surface of your teeth, it won't remove deeper stains. According to the Mayo Clinic, toothpaste containing baking soda can help coffee and smoking stains, and it could take between two to six weeks for you to notice a difference.
Porcelain Veneers
These are very popular amongst celebrities because of their incredible results. Veneers are thin, strong shells that are custom-made from dental porcelain to cover the front surface of your teeth. They can fix small cracks, chips, gaps, and discoloration all at once.
Consuming Certain Foods and Drinks
Other teeth-staining foods include coffee, citrus fruits and juices, soft drinks, teas, berries, tomato-based sauces, curry, balsamic vinegar, and soy sauce. Ingredients in these foods can seep into your enamel (the outermost covering of your teeth) and cause discoloration.
On the other hand, teeth whitening strips can cause the enamel to erode and will expose the underlying tooth structure. Also, if you have poor oral health or an underlying medical condition that affects the teeth, the teeth whitening procedure may make the teeth yellow.
Seniors should make appointments for cleanings at least twice a year or as directed by their dentist. Maintaining a regular appointment schedule is one of the most important things you can do for your oral health.
Dental hygienists use a flavored polishing toothpaste made of pumice, flavoring, and usually a tiny amount of fluoride. This normally follows the scaling process, which is when hygienists use metal tools to scrape plaque and tartar from your teeth. The polishing toothpaste is much more coarse than regular toothpaste.
Both children's and adult's toothpaste are the same when it comes to the level of abrasiveness. Both are effective in brushing away plaque from the surfaces of the teeth. The only difference is the amount of fluoride, and most kid's toothpaste comes in a variety of flavors.
Tooth decay: One of the leading causes of teeth turning black is tooth decay, which can result from the build-up of plaque and tartar. Poor oral hygiene can result in tooth decay, although this is reversible in the early stages. However, when teeth turn black further treatment is necessary.