Symptoms & conditions
Yellow or stained teeth
The short answer
Yellowing from karak, coffee, tea, or smoking is surface staining — professional cleaning + in-clinic whitening removes 90%. Tetracycline-induced grey or deeply intrinsic staining won't whiten and needs veneers. Genetics sets your baseline; most "white teeth" you see are enhanced.
What's happening
The clinical picture
Enamel is translucent — the real colour of your tooth is the dentine beneath showing through. Extrinsic stains (coffee, tea, karak, wine, tobacco) sit on the enamel surface and polish/whiten off easily. Intrinsic staining — tetracycline from childhood, fluorosis, old pulp damage turning a single tooth dark — lives inside the dentine and professional whitening can't reach it. Veneers or composite bonding are the only option for that type. Normal ageing also darkens teeth because dentine thickens and enamel thins.
Warning signs
Contact us the same day if:
- A single tooth darker than its neighbours (dead pulp — needs root canal assessment)
- Yellowing accompanied by sensitivity (erosion, not just staining)
- Darkening at the gum line only (decay, not staining)
- Grey or blue-grey bands across teeth (tetracycline)
- White patches that won't brush off (fluorosis or early decay)
What we do
Our approach
Shade assessment to classify stain type. Extrinsic: cleaning + in-clinic whitening (OMR 90-150). Mild intrinsic: take-home whitening trays for 2 weeks. Severe intrinsic: veneers or composite bonding discussion. Honest advice — we won't whiten teeth that can't respond, or sell veneers to someone cleaning + whitening would fix.
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