Covering heavy smoke staining on teeth
Posted on: 5 May 2016
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If you've quit smoking, you might be looking for ways to get rid of the signs of your previous habit. One of the common things people are looking to rectify are the yellow stained teeth that come with smoking. Here are three common options you can consider.
Give it some time
Each day you are not smoking, you are not laying down extra staining on your teeth. Using a standard whitening toothpaste and mouthwash should remove some of the most recent smoke colouring over time. It can be a great idea to leave it a few weeks to see what colour your teeth end up at with some time off smoking and normal teeth whitening products.
Whitening treatments
There is a range of teeth whitening on the market. You can try some at-home products which involve stronger bleaching gels that you place in a mouth guard and leave against the teeth. These can achieve good results in some circumstances but can result in increases sensitivity to the teeth and gums.
It's also possible to get stronger products applied in the dentist chair. These can be a great option for smokers who may suffer from generally poorer oral health and need some extra attention when strong products are applied to the teeth. They can also achieve a higher level of bleaching, so they can be great for people who have very poor teeth colour. In some cases, multiple treatments can be applied to optimise the results. These treatments are often very affordable when covered on private health insurance and may work out to be a similar out of pocket price to off-the-shelf options.
Veneers
For some teeth, it is not possible to achieve the desired result with whitening gels. In this case, veneers can be a great solution. With this treatment, the top stained layer of the tooth is lightly abraded and a new front to the tooth (either made from porcelain or composite). The new front can be applied in any colour and adjustments can also be made to the overall shape of the teeth to create a perfect smile. The fitting usually takes a single session. The teeth can then be used as normal.
If you have just quit smoking and are looking to switch your yellowed and smoke-stained teeth for some pearly whites, it's a good idea to chat to your dentist to work out which treatment option might be most suitable for you.