Smoking can affect your teeth in a number of ways, and one of the most obvious is staining. While some people who smoke may only develop a mild yellowing, regular smoking over a period of years can result in much darker and more noticeable discolouration, even if you look after your teeth well in other ways.
The good news is that there are several ways in which the appearance of stained teeth can be improved. At the Rushey Green Dental Practice, we can discuss the options with you, with professional teeth whitening usually being the first treatment to consider.
Tobacco contains substances that can stain the teeth, with tar and nicotine being the main culprits. Nicotine itself is relatively colourless, but it can turn yellow when it comes into contact with oxygen. Tobacco smoke also contains tar, which can contribute to brownish or darker staining.
At first, some of this staining may be on the outside of the teeth and can sometimes be reduced with a professional dental clean. However, smoking regularly can lead to staining becoming more deeply established.
Smoking can also contribute to other oral health problems, including gum disease and an increased risk of oral cancer. For this reason, improving the colour of your teeth should not be seen as a substitute for looking after your general oral health.
If your main concern is the colour of your teeth, professional teeth whitening is often the simplest, and least costly, place to start.
We can provide a whitening treatment at our Catford dental clinic that uses custom-made trays that fit over your teeth. These are made specifically for you, rather than being a generic tray bought from a shop or online. The whitening gel is placed into these trays, which are then worn according to the instructions provided by our dental team.
One advantage of this approach is that you can carry out the treatment at home. There is no need to spend a long period sitting in the dental chair while the whitening takes place. Instead, you can fit the treatment around your normal routine.
The whitening process gradually lightens the natural tooth colour. How much improvement you see will depend on the starting colour of your teeth and the nature of the staining.
For some smokers, the staining may be quite heavy, particularly if they have smoked for many years. Teeth whitening can still produce some improvement, but there is no guarantee that it will do so to the degree that the patient hoped for.
This is where it may be worth considering another cosmetic option.
Veneers are thin coverings that are placed over the visible surface of a tooth. They can be used to change the colour and appearance of teeth as well as addressing certain other cosmetic concerns, such as minor changes in shape.
Veneers may be considered when teeth are heavily stained and whitening is unlikely to give the result that a patient wants. They can also be useful where there are several different cosmetic problems that need to be addressed at the same time. Unlike whitening, veneers do not rely on changing the natural colour of the tooth. Instead, the visible surface is covered with a material chosen to give the desired appearance.
There is, however, considerably more involved in having veneers than having your teeth whitened. They are not simply another form of whitening and usually require some invasive treatment. They should not, therefore, be regarded as the obvious choice for everyone with stained teeth.
For many people, professional whitening with custom-made trays may provide all the improvement they need without moving on to more extensive cosmetic treatment.
Ideally, yes. Aside from the obvious benefits to your general health, stopping smoking can also help to prevent your newly whitened teeth from becoming stained again. If you continue to smoke, you should expect some staining to return over time. This does not necessarily mean that whitening has been unsuccessful. It is simply a consequence of continuing to expose the teeth to the substances in tobacco smoke.
Good brushing and regular dentist's appointments can help, but they cannot completely prevent smoking-related discolouration.
People sometimes become so used to the colour of their teeth that they often don’t realise how much they have changed over the years. This can be especially true with smoking stains, which tend to develop gradually.
If you are unhappy with the appearance of your teeth, there is no need to simply accept it. Professional teeth whitening is a relatively straightforward way of improving the colour of natural teeth, and the custom-made home trays make it possible to carry out the treatment conveniently. If the staining is particularly severe, or if there are other cosmetic concerns, veneers may be an alternative worth discussing.
If you are interested in improving the whiteness of your teeth, an initial consultation with one of our cosmetic dentists is the best place to start. We can then examine your teeth and discuss the most appropriate action to take. If you would like to book yours now, please call the Rushey Green Dental Practice today on 020 8314 5066.
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