Dentist shares the seven main reasons your teeth go yellow and ways to stop it happening
Ok gang, it's time to brush up on some of the finer points of dental hygiene.
Keeping your teeth clean is a useful and healthy thing to do, especially since you only get two sets of teeth and the first set is due to fall out of its own accord.
Once your adult teeth grow in, that's your lot for the rest of your life so it's either time to take care of them or time to look up comfortable sets of false teeth.
The dentists at Mawson Dental Care have identified seven main reasons why your teeth go yellow and start to suffer, and there's some things you can do to help with that.
Old age
Sorry for this one, but as you get older your natural layer of enamel on your teeth wears down to possibly show the lower layer of dentin contained beneath.
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Dentin is part of your tooth and the natural colour is a pale yellow.
We're not going to tell you 'don't age', so this one is relatively unavoidable and you're best off looking after your teeth as best you can.
Smoking
You've likely seen the impact of smoking on your teeth, and dentists agree that it's very much not good for you.
The nicotine, tar and tobacco in cigarettes can stain your teeth even with light smoking, and a heavy habit could lead to your pearly whites going brown.
Fortunately the solution for this one is easy, though perhaps easier said than done.
Simply quit smoking, ditch one of the most addictive habits in the world and maintain a good level of dental hygiene.
Bad hygiene
Speaking of dental hygiene, the experts agree that not cleaning your teeth well enough can lead to stains not being shifted.
Dentists say this leads to something known as 'extrinsic tooth staining', which is where what you eat and drink produces stains on the upper layer of the tooth.
This is one of the most common forms of discolouration in teeth.
The solution to this is to brush and floss those teeth properly to clear those stains and prevent new ones from building up.
Dental procedures
Yes, sometimes going to the dentist can result in tooth discolouration.
Certain materials used in dental procedures such as amalgam restorations may give your teeth a 'grayish-black tint'.
This one you may just have to live with a bit, and if your dentist needed to perform a procedure on you then it was likely for the greater good.
Medication
This one mostly applies to young children under the age of eight as their teeth are still developing.
Certain medicines which are administered can result in teeth looking more yellow, though good dental hygiene can help remove stains from teeth.
If you really want to try something else, then there's a range of tooth-whitening procedures which can be done, as well as potentially adding baking soda to the toothbrush.
There's another procedure known as 'oil pulling' which involves coconut oil.
Illness
Certain illnesses can affect your dentin, while dentists have said that some treatments for serious medical ailments can also result in teeth becoming more yellow.
Your genetics
Yes, you could have different looking teeth just because of the family you're in.
Some people are born with thicker enamel on their teeth, which makes them look a little more yellow.
However, this isn't a bad thing health-wise as enamel can protect your teeth and you do need it.
Sadly, there's not a lot you can do to tackle the root cause of this discolouration, only keep using dental products which keep your teeth looking less yellow.
Joe Harker