Why Do Teeth Change Colour?

Teeth change colour for a variety of reasons. Some of the main reasons include

Food/Drinks

Coffee, tea and red wine are some of the major staining beverages. Each of these drinks have Intense color pigments called chromogens that attach to the white, outer part of your tooth enamel. If you frequently enjoy these beverages, you may notice some staining or darkening over time.

Smoking

Tar and nicotine will easily stain teeth. Tar is naturally dark. Nicotine is colorless until it’s mixed with oxygen. Then, it turns into a yellowish, surface-staining substance.

Age

As you age the enamel on your teeth gets thinner. Therefore, yellowish stains are more noticeable. Also, because of the softening and thinning of the enamel, the teeth stains easily.

Trauma

If you injure your tooth, you may notice that the affected tooth becomes darker in response to the injury. This is because after impact, the tooth responds by laying down more dentin which is a darker layer under the enamel. With the extra dentin, the darker colour tends to show through.