What is a Dental Stain?
Dental stain is defined as extrinsic stain (ES) when present at the tooth surface and in the pellicle, and as intrinsic stain (IS) when present within the dental hard tissue.
What are the types of stains?
There are basically two types of stains – Intrinsic & Extrinsic.
Extrinsic stains can be removed by physical cleaning of the teeth through ultrasonic scaling followed by polishing but the intrinsic stains need altogether different treatment for removal. As the stains are embedded in the tooth, there could be various reasons for having Intrinsic stains like high fluoride levels in drinking water, medications, coloured food and drinks etc.
Intrinsic stains need chemical treatment along with lasers for removal of stains. It is 100% safe procedure without any side-effects and can be repeated twice or thrice depending on the needs of the patient. However, Laser Teeth Whitening is an advanced stream under laser cosmetic dentistry where laser energy activates a peroxide bleaching solution, applied to the tooth surface that speeds up the procedure and also gives quick results.
How do dentists remove stains from teeth?
Stain removal can be achieved during a routine hygiene appointment where the teeth are cleaned with an ultrasonic scaler and hand instruments to remove plaque deposits. The teeth are then polished with either conventional prophy polish or 'Air-flow'.
