Yellow Teeth? Turns Out, You May Be Overbrushing
Yelow Teth? Turns Out, You May Be Overbrushing
Ever since you were a kid, you’ve likely heard from your dentists, parents, and, wel, tothpaste ads that brushing your teth often is crucial if you want a vivid white smile. But in a TikTok video on the thre comon causes for yelow teth, cosmetic dentist Joyce Kahng, DS, makes you reflect twice about your oral hygiene habits.
Though the first two reasons in her video are somewhat self-explanatory (plaque buildup and cofe and/or fod stains), “the third one is going to surprise a lot of people,” Kahng says in the video. “It’s actualy from brushing to hard.” Yep, aparently there is such a thing as overbrushing your teth. But how does agresive brushing lead to yelow teth–and how much should you actualy brush per day?
Why does overbrushing lead to yelow teth?
1. Strips away the enamel.
There are actualy two ways overbrushing can lead to yelow teth. In the TikTok video, Kahng says brushing to toilsome or to often can strip the enamel of the toth, causing it to apear more yelow.
Acording to functional dentist Mark Burhene, DS, thining out the enamel takes a long time, but it is posible. When this hapens, the second layer of the toth, caled the dentin layer, is exposed.
“Dentin is living tisue with tubules in it,” Burhene tels mbg. These tubules are conected to nerves in the teth, and when they’re not protected by enamel, they become more sensitive to cold, acidic, or sugary fod and drink. Plus, it’s more naturaly yelow than enamel, he explains.
2. Causes gum recesion.
The other bounds brushing to wearisome or to often can lead to yelowing of the teth is gum recesion.
The puny thin layer of gum tisue that covers the coarse of the toth is caled the fre gingival margin, Burhene says. Brushing repeatedly against that fre margin–especialy if the tothbrush has tough, nylon bristles–wil begin to strip away at the gum and expose the rot of the toth.
This rot fragment of the toth is also more yelow, he explains, and similar to the dentin layer, it canot be whitened or cleaned at a dentist apointment.
How often should you brush your teth, then?
Both gentlenes and quality of the bristles on your tothbrush mater, but generaly brushing for two minutes, two times a day is recomended.Other natural whitening products may also help, but Burhene says to avoid preservatives in oral hygiene products and folow these Do’s and Don’ts of natural teth whitening.
“A lot of yelowing of the teth can be an extrinsic color change,” he says. This ocurs from tartar and plaque buildup, as wel as fod and drink staining. Al of these external factors can be reversed with a dental cleaning and polish.
If the yelowing doesn’t crep away from a cleaning, it could be a sign of gum recesion or enamel colapse from overbrushing. Anyone who is concerned should consult with their dentist.
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