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Keeping Your Teeth White Between Dental Visits


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Keeping Your Teeth White Between Dental Visits

Taking care of your teeth might seem mundane, but without enough attention, those pearly whites of yours can easily turn tinged and stained. Sure, having your teeth cleaned every few months at your dentist's office is a great start to maintaining a beautiful smile, but it isn't enough to keep each tooth pearly white on an ongoing basis. Now, don't get me wrong – you don't have to spend an arm and a leg on professional maintenance in order to get the results you want. You can use a variety of methods at home, like creating your own whitening mouthwash, that can help to keep you teeth white between dentist visits. Hopefully, the tips and techniques offered on this blog is enough to get you the results that you're after.

Learning More About Whitening Discolored Teeth After A Root Canal

If you have sustained an injury that caused one of your teeth to 'die,' you may have had a root canal You may have had a root canal because a tooth's pulp was infected. If you have noticed the teeth you had a root canal for are becoming discolored, you may wonder what you can have done about it. Learn more about tooth whitening techniques after a root canal.

Causes Of Tooth Discoloration After A Root Canal

After your tooth suffers trauma from an injury, the pigments in blood can slowly make their way into the tooth, causing it to look darker. Sometimes, however, the cement used during your root canal can cause the affected tooth to become discolored. This type of discoloration comes from the inside of your tooth, also called intrinsic discoloration. You can have them whitened, only it will need to also be done from the inside of the tooth and pulp.

Non-Vital Bleaching For Intrinsic Discolored Teeth

In many cases, discolored teeth from dead pulp tissue do not respond to traditional extrinsic bleaching and whitening techniques. Extrinsic techniques work only for stains on the external surface of your tooth, like those from coffee or smoking. For intrinsic discoloration, your dentist will inject a bleaching solution into the pulp of the affected tooth. If the material used during your root canal has darkened, your dentist will remove it. Any other debris found will be cleaned out, and the pulp is sealed so the bleaching solution cannot leak. If your teeth are discolored before your root canal, your dentist can perform non-vital bleaching during your root canal procedure.

If Internal Non-Vital Bleaching Does Not Work For You

For some people, having their teeth whitened after a root canal means getting porcelain veneers or bonding put on them. Porcelain veneers have been used for some time to successfully repair injured and discolored teeth. Porcelain veneers are durable and look natural, making it a great choice for people whose teeth do not respond to internal bleaching methods. Also, your dentist may recommend dental bonding for whitening and brightening your discolored teeth. Bonding can also be applied in such a way that it helps to give crooked teeth a straightened appearance. Discuss with your dentist about which cosmetic treatment would be best for you.

Caring for teeth is vital to avoid stains and unsightly discoloration. However, if a tooth is injured, you may no control over discoloration. Your dentist can help you make the right choices for oral hygiene and injured teeth.

For more information, contact Picone Dental - Vincent J Picone DDS or a similar location.