Why are my teeth yellow or stained?

What a great question that is, tooth staining is a common concern and it may range from having yellow teeth to slightly brown teeth or you may just find you have patches of staining. There are a couple of common culprits for discoloured teeth and we’ll go through these together.

Tooth discolouration can indicate decay, trauma or even tooth death, and once this has occurred it cannot necessarily be reversed. As we age our enamel can thin, which causes our teeth to become duller in colour or even appear more yellow, as the thinning enamel exposes the dentine layer of the tooth below, which is yellow. However, your teeth do likely have some surface level staining causing them to be darker in colour, yellow stains on teeth for example can be a result of food staining, smoking, tea and coffee.

Chromogen is a chemical compound that can readily turn into a dye. This compound is found in richly coloured food and drinks, and if you think a type of food is likely to stain your clothes it will most probably stain your teeth too. Highly acidic drinks also cause enamel to thin, leaving you more vulnerable to staining.

Now, if you’re looking to go from yellow teeth to white, there are a couple of things we need to do.