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Teeth naturally get stains over time. Our dietary habits, practices like smoking, and even the aging process contribute to tooth discoloration, darkening the shine and beauty of our smiles. When this happens, various methods, like over-the-counter products and teeth whitening in Coral Gables, help eliminate stains—each one with more or less success.
However, prevention is often the best remedy for stains. We developed this guide to help you understand teeth stains, what causes them, and how to prevent them.
Teeth stains are discolorations that are difficult to remove with a toothbrush. They can appear purple, green, brown, white, or yellow. While they can be a source of embarrassment for some people, they’re completely natural and—often—aren’t harmful.
Depending on various factors, including genetics, environment, habits, and more, discoloration may affect the teeth's interior (intrinsic) or exterior (extrinsic).
Tooth discoloration is extremely common, with most people developing it at some point. This is partly because several factors can cause it.
Identifying what’s causing intrinsic or extrinsic stains can help determine the best way to treat them and how you can prevent them from now on. Some of the common causes of dental stains include:
Dietary habits are the most common driver of tooth discoloration. When you consume dark or tinted foods, the residue builds up on your teeth, leading to noticeable staining. Some of the dark foods and beverages known to darken the shine of your teeth include:
Acidic foods like lemons are also known to cause stains. Their overly strong pH can weaken enamel, making it easier for tannins to accumulate in teeth. Extrinsic staining can be avoided by abstaining from consuming these foods in excess.
Oral hygiene habits also impact the color of your teeth noticeably. Lack of proper brushing and flossing in between teeth can allow plaque to build up, which is known to cause extrinsic stains in the oral cavity.
Over time, plaque can become stained yellow, green, brown, and, in rare cases, orange and red. Stains associated with poor oral hygiene are often yellow.
Stains linked to inadequate oral hygiene can be generalized or localized in distribution. Because calculus and biofilm can retain stains, it depends on how unhygienic the person is. The more present plaque accumulates, the more generalized the stains may appear.
A confluence of extrinsic and intrinsic discoloration factors causes teeth discoloration in older adults. The dentin, the tooth’s central tissue, turns yellow over time. At the same time, the enamel on the surfaces of your teeth thins with age, exposing the dentin and giving it a yellowish hue.
Additionally, older adults are more likely to develop extrinsic stains if prevention and treatment are not provided. This means maintaining good oral hygiene habits, visiting the dentist regularly, and getting professional teeth cleaning twice a year or more to remove any plaque accumulation.
Both dental trauma and bruxism can cause tooth discoloration because they affect the tooth's internal structure. When a tooth experiences trauma—such as from a fall, sports injury, or impact—it can damage the blood vessels and nerves inside the pulp.
Pulp necrosis, the death of the pulp tissue, or internal bleeding could result from this damage. The breakdown products of red blood cells, especially iron-containing compounds, can leach into the dentin, giving the tooth a gray, brown, or dark yellow hue.
Often, this can be identified because a single tooth becomes gray or dark in tone. It may also not hurt at the moment of trauma but slowly changes color.
Bruxism also leads to discolorations because it can wear down the enamel, exposing the underlying yellowish dentin. Additionally, like trauma, it may cause recurrent mechanical stress that damages the pulp, resulting in pulpitis or pulp necrosis.
Smoking is another big cause of teeth stains. The color of tobacco stains ranges from light brown to black or leathery brown. They can often be found around the gum line. Over time, severe tobacco stains may seep into the enamel and become intrinsic stains that are more difficult to eliminate.
Not only cigarettes and cigars cause staining, but also vaping and cannabis can also contribute to extrinsic staining. Vaping can cause extrinsic stains by releasing metal ions, pigments, and particles when the e-liquid is heated. These stains are very similar to those caused by traditional cigarettes.
Greenish discoloration may result from cannabis use. Staining frequently happens due to the dental biofilm or acquired pellicle becoming stained.
Tooth discoloration may be brought on by systemic drugs and supplements. Extrinsic staining is believed to be caused by antimicrobial agents like minocycline and doxycycline binding to the pellicle's glycoprotein. Those who have poor oral hygiene are more likely to experience this.
Furthermore, linezolid and amoxicillin-clavulanic acid can change the oral microbiota. In certain instances, extrinsic staining results from the antimicrobial agent, permitting an overabundance of chromogenic bacteria.
Because of a chemical reaction, iron supplements—especially liquid iron salts—also stain. The stain has a brown-black or greenish-black appearance. The discoloration increases with the tooth's surface area in contact with the iron supplement.
Another supplement that may result in staining is liquid chlorophyll. Supplemental chlorophyll contains chlorophyllin instead of chlorophyll, which contains copper. Because of the way the metallic compounds and biofilm interact, copper can result in green staining. The liquid's dark pigment may also cause green staining.
Besides lifestyle habits and medications, genetic conditions like dentinogenesis imperfecta and amelogenesis imperfecta are among the most well-documented causes of intrinsic tooth discoloration. These disorders impact the cellular development of tooth structure, resulting in intrinsic discoloration.
In dentinogenesis imperfecta, the dentin is abnormally soft and poorly mineralized. Because of this changed structure, light may reflect differently, giving the material a translucent amber, brown, or bluish-gray appearance. Even though the enamel on top is initially normal, it is frequently brittle and prone to chipping away, revealing the discolored dentin underneath.
Additionally, teeth may appear opalescent or "glassy."
Amelogenesis imperfecta is a disorder that causes the enamel to become too thin (hypoplastic), formed in an irregular pattern (hypomaturation), or poorly mineralized (hypocalcified). The teeth appear yellow, brown, or even gray due to these enamel flaws that let the dentin underneath show through.
Teeth with weak or absent enamel are also more vulnerable to external wear and discoloration. Teeth may seem discolored, pitted, or grooved.
Overconsumption of fluoride during tooth development causes a condition known as dental fluorosis, which leads to tooth discoloration and enamel changes. It typically occurs from birth to age 8, when permanent teeth are still developing under the gums.
This occurs because too much fluoride disrupts the normal mineralization process of developing enamel. During tooth development, fluoride impacts ameloblasts, which are cells that form enamel. The equilibrium between protein removal and mineral deposition during enamel formation is upset by excessive fluoride levels.
This leads to visible changes by making the enamel more porous and hypomineralized. Nevertheless, fluoride is extremely beneficial at optimal levels—it strengthens enamel, prevents decay, and reduces cavity risk. Fluorosis only occurs from chronic overexposure during tooth development, not from normal brushing or using fluoride toothpaste as directed.
The best defense against extrinsic tooth stains is to abstain from smoking and maintain good oral hygiene, particularly after consuming dark foods and drinks.
Additional strategies to maintain white teeth include:
Teeth whitening is a cosmetic dental procedure that eliminates tooth discoloration and brightens your smile. It works by applying a whitening agent that penetrates the enamel and breaks down stains.
For that reason, it is mostly effective for most common stains caused by food, beverages, and tobacco. However, it may not work as well for discoloration from certain medications or internal tooth damage. In these cases, a porcelain veneer may be the only solution for hiding the discoloration.
Dental discoloration is extremely common. However, that doesn’t mean that it’s something easy to get used to. Tooth stains can diminish the shine of your smile and affect your self-confidence, impacting more than your oral health.
When this happens, professional teeth whitening at Coral Gables can be the solution to lighten up your smile. If you’d like to learn more about this procedure, contact us today to schedule an appointment!
We value your time, so we always run on schedule, respecting your commitments, with no double bookings and minimal wait times. Experience dentistry like never before in our award-winning clinic.
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