In a previous video we spoke about Extrinsic stains, which are stains on the external surface of teeth. Now we will go into more depth about intrinsic stains
Intrinsic stains or internal stains. Now I did say that they're both chalk and cheese, they're two different ways of approaching things. And generally with intrinsic stains they're generally a little bit harder to address compared to an extrinsic stains.
But that being said, it's not impossible.
So I guess again you know, I guess the question is: “How we fix that white patch you have on your tooth or that very yellow patch?”.
“No matter how hard I brush, no matter how much toothpaste whitening I go for, it just doesn't go off.”
So I guess to start off with is what actually are intrinsic stains?
Intrinsic stains = hypo mineralization.
Now essentially it means that you know the tooth didn't develop properly and its got certain properties in there that reflect the light differently and then sometimes it absorbs stains as well a little bit more and most times it's developed during you know, throughout your life and of course from birth onwards.
Now scientists haven't quite actually managed to put their finger on what actually causes it but you know, they did hypothesize that it could be because you know when you're younger you fell really sick at one stage and it affected the development of the teeth. Or maybe sometimes you fell down on your bike or face planted and bumped your two front teeth and trauma could also affect the development of some teeth there
And this also links to the medications while your mum's pregnant you know while she has you. She might be taking some antibiotics or some medications that could affect the development of your teeth.
But I guess you know, the most important thing is how do we fix it?
Look generally there are a few ways of fixing these sort of internal stains or intrinsic stains and there are certain processes we should go through before we go to the more extreme end.
You know we always start off at the middle end and then work it up from there if it doesn't work. And not all of these options work 100% of the time.
Some might work, some might not work and all options have it's own pro's and cons there. I'll attempt to try to summarize everything in this short, quick little video. So that you get an idea of what are the options out there at the moment.
Whitening:
Now the first option is whitening. So you can actually you know, do professional in chair whitening alongside with some take home whitening to try to remove some of the yellow stains or try to make the whiter stains more diffused or sort of blends in a little bit more with the surrounding teeth.
This option doesn't work all the time you know. If anything else it may be up to 60 to 70% of the time and I guess the good thing about it is you get your teeth white anyways and it doesn't damage your teeth because it doesn't take away any tooth structure it's just literally whitening it inside out.
I guess the downside is that again, it doesn't work all the time. So if that doesn't work then you would move on to the next step which is what we call micro abrasion.
Micro Abrasion:
So what do micro abrasions...just like it's name, you take off a little bit of tooth structure and then you know, hoping that by removing a bit of tooth structure using sometimes the or sometimes the gels and there's even a new technique called icon infiltration, you can infiltrate the tooth there to try to remove or try to diffuse out the white patches or the yellow patches there.
Again this is not a full proof technique you know. And I suppose the good thing about it is that it's cheaper generally, but the downside is that it doesn't work all the time.
Maybe success rate is, if I'm going to put a number down maybe you know 80,85% there.
So there is still a chance that it may not work at all. But at the very least I've seen results and studies have shown that it will reduce it a little bit, maybe not 100%.
Macro Abrasion:
There is another way of fixing called macro abrasion. Now what macro abrasion is it's removing a lot more tooth structure and then you know, trying to patch it up again or try to cover up that spot there that you've removed off with you know tooth colored material.
Now this could involve you know, a bit of drilling, and then we later on put the filling over the top and then we try to mask it. They will put the same color, the same optical properties on the tooth so it appears a little bit more natural and you don't see as much of a white patch or a yellow patch at all.
I guess that the good thing about this is that it's generally cheaper again.
But I suppose the downside is you're removing a bit of tooth.
On top of that as well you know, while removing teeth, yes we are patching it up with something else, we won't just leave it with a hole in there. So there shouldn't be any sensitivity afterwards but I guess the downside is again it's not 100% although the success rate is a lot higher depending on how much tooth structure is removed, you can get up to about 90 to 95% success rate there.
Now I guess the last alternative, the final straw is by doing veneers.
Veneers:
Veneers come in many forms. It can come in direct veneers or indirect veneers and but generally they do work around the same principles in mind.
So veneers are kind of like fake finger nails where you put a ‘shell’ on and you hide whatever's underneath there.
I guess the downside of that is the cost. It is a lot than you know the other options, the other three options. And I guess the other downside is you do tend to remove a bit more tooth structure.
But I guess the good thing is that it will mask almost 100%, well nothing's 100% I like to say that, but maybe 99.99% of the time it will mask anything, any discolored things underneath there. No matter how yellow, no matter how white it is, how patchy it is, it will mask anything underneath with the veneer. And you know, which is why I normally say, we don't normally go down the veneer path unless we try all the other very less invasive procedures first.
But again, at the end of the day it's the patient's call and as long as you're aware of the risks we are happy to proceed with what you want us to do.
So I guess that summarizes what are the you know, general ways of addressing intrinsic stains and if you like to find out more from Tooth Heaven give us a call and we'll be more than happy to have a chat with you, figure out what's causing it, figure out how extensive it is and then figure out a plan on how we can address this. Well until next time, take care and bye now.
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