Smiling is a natural thing for us, it is just an everyday occurrence. But what if you have dull-looking, stained teeth? Smiling can be hard to do. The truth is that a smile can have a huge impact on your career, your social life and even your personal life. Proper dental hygiene may not be enough to keep the sparkle of your teeth and make your appear older than you actually are!

In fact, many things can stain your teeth. Knowing these factors is vital in keeping your teeth from becoming shades darker. Most common causes for darker teeth are:

*Consuming foods and drinks can stain your teeth, especially beverages such as tea, coffee or fruit juices. These can leave stains which are hard to remove by brushing alone.

*Nicotine contained in tobacco are what causes smokers to have yellowish teeth. It penetrates into the grooves and pits of teeth, and sticks onto all the tooth surfaces.

*Some medications can also cause tooth stains – excessive iron supplements can stain the teeth black, while chlorohexidine, sometimes found in mouthwashes, can cause brown or black stains on the teeth.

*As previously mentioned, food consumption, as well poor oral hygiene can lead to darker teeth. These stains develop slowly and become more visible as we grow older, thus aging is a natural cause for lost of white teeth.

For many years teeth whitening has been a mere luxury for a few people. Fortunately, medical advancements has opened up opportunities for safer and inexpensive teeth whitening treatments and procedures which can help lighten teeth. Many consumers are already using at home teeth whitening kits to help whiter their smiles.

For people wanting to have whiter teeth, options such as over the counter teeth whitening products are very much sought after. Many stains in the enamel can be removed by special teeth whitening systems such as teeth whitening toothpastes and gels. These are convenient and easy to use, as well as cost effective, making them popular among consumers. The drawback of these products are that it takes time to see results, as they are not as strong as those used in professional teeth whitening treatments.

Fortunately, many years of research has given us various options for teeth whitening. Among them are lazer teeth whitening, one-hour teeth whitening and even at home teeth whitening kits. Choosing the right options may depend on you and your dentist, so a dental consultation is a great help. Dentist’s can also offer professional teeth whitening that guarantee fast and long lasting results. Complementing your teeth whitening with proper dental hygiene is the best option for having longer lasting teeth whitening results.