Have your teeth started to turn excessively yellow? So yellow that you have started comparing your not-so-pearly-whites with the clean and white teeth of your friends and others? Perhaps, your teeth have started to turn a bit yellower than they used to be, and you are alarmed and anxious to take some serious measures to make them whiter like they used to be.
First and foremost, it is essential to understand that our teeth begin to turn yellow only when the enamel layer comes under attack. Now, what is the enamel layer? It is basically the outer and protective layer of our teeth, and it tends to range between translucently white, to greyish-white and pearly white.
The layer underneath the enamel layer is the dentin, which tends to become more and more visible when the enamel layer starts to thin and corrode away. The dentin layer is yellow, and when your teeth start to become yellowish, it is a sign that your enamel layer has been damaged, which has made the dentin layer visible.
Luckily, there are several preventive measures and healthy oral hygiene habits that help you maintain a strong enamel layer, and prevent the dentin layer from becoming visible, along with decreasing the emergence of horrid food stains that cause our pearly whites to decay and appear yellow.
We’ve listed down all the oral hygiene mistakes that you might be making to correct the yellowness and flaunt a flawless set of strong and healthy pearly whites.
Here’s everything you need to know:
1. You Smoke Excessively
Being an excessive smoker can cause a great deal of damage to your teeth, gums, mouth and other body organs. You see, cigarettes and pipe tobacco contain certain chemicals that stain our teeth by clinging onto the enamel layer. Naturally, the more you smoke, the more visible these stains tend to become.
Research reveals that smoking increases the risk factors for several oral health ailments, such as tooth decay, gum disease and dry mouth. So, if you want to maintain a set of strong and healthy pearly whites, you have to give the unhealthy habit of smoking.