Graying Matters: Causes of Gray Teeth & How to Fix Them

With Thanksgiving nearly here, the odds are good you want to look a bit better. Turkey Day is a time to dazzle friends and family you haven’t seen in a while! Still, a smile that looks grayer than usual could get in the way of your efforts. That’s why your Denton dentist is here to provide crucial dental advice for the holidays. Before this Thanksgiving, read below to learn the causes of gray teeth and how to fix them.

What Makes Teeth Look Gray?

As it turns out, various factors can cause your teeth to look gray. The most common ones include the following:

• Natural Coloring – Not all teeth are naturally bright and shiny. If you have certain genetic conditions, your smile could appear blue-gray.
• Antibiotic Exposure – If exposed to the antibiotic tetracycline in the womb, your teeth could develop a blue-gray color. This coloring is permanent and isn’t affected by brushing.
• Dental Restorations – In some cases, dental restorations like fillings can make teeth look gray or blue.
• Dead Nerves – If only a few of your teeth look gray or blue, they may have died. A tooth will often turn darker colors when its pulp and nerves are dead.

Which Dental Treatments Can Help?

While gray teeth aren’t great, there’s still good news – cosmetic dentistry can treat them. All you need to do is get one of the procedures below:

Teeth Whitening

While it often works best on yellow enamel, a whitening treatment can also be effective for bluish-gray teeth. The procedure’s methods should still make your smile shine!

You see, whitening relies on a special hydrogen peroxide gel. This material seeps into the enamel to remove stains of all colors – yellow, brown, gray, etc. The only thing to watch for is whether you get treatment at a dentist’s office or through a kit. Depending on the method, your results would come more or less quickly.

Porcelain Veneers

Sometimes, whitening isn’t enough to get rid of a smile’s deep gray or blue tint. A dentist can provide you with porcelain veneers for those cases.

Remember, veneers can hide many dental flaws – chips, stains, cracks, etc. They’re tailored to fit over your front-facing teeth and use porcelain that blends with your smile. Once they’ve been placed, you won’t have to look at blue or gray teeth anymore. You’ll instead see a bright white color that looks great!

Once you know the causes of gray teeth and how to fix them, you can rest easy about Thanksgiving. Your smile is sure to look amazing for the upcoming Turkey Day!

About the Practice

Aguilar Family Dentistry is based near the heart of Denton, TX. Led by Dr. Aguilar, our practice is strongly committed to giving each patient a truly stellar smile. That means we tailor our preventive, cosmetic, and restorative treatments to your mouth and its unique needs. Whether your teeth look gray or decayed, our team is ready to help them thrive for years to come! For more details or to book a visit, please contact us on our website or by phone at (940)-566-5332.