Whitening your teeth can be an experience you will not easily forget. Mostly because you have become aware of how discolored or stained your teeth are and that getting someone to clean it for you can be costly proposition depending on how badly discolored or stained your teeth are. For some, it is not so yellow and thus requires little cleaning and less effort in whitening. For the more severe cases, a prolonged treatment might be prescribed to you with repeated visits to the professional dentist. In order to know where you place in the treatment scale, you can easily refer to a teeth whitening chart which can be found in any dental office.

But what contributes to the discoloration or staining of teeth? A lot of things actually, mostly the food and drink we consume everyday, especially taking too much coffee and tea. The biggest contributors are coffee, tea, soda, and cigarettes. These contain natural stains that easily get into the small areas of your teeth and can be difficult to remove by just brushing your teeth. You might need a more intense treatment like bleaching to remove the stains.

The severity of the stain can also determine what course of treatment a dentist will perform on you according to the teeth whitening chart. It can also be indicative of problems you may not be aware of, all of which your dentist can provide you with answers and courses of treatment.

A teeth whitening chart can also be used by dentists to determine what kind of veneer or crowns a patient might need after consultation. Some patients need them because of tooth decay or sometimes because the discoloration is severe. Naturally, your teeth are not all the same color. Some tend to be darker than others, some lighter. Your front teeth tend to be whitest compared to the other ones at the back. It is because of this, your dentist will recommend to you which shade your veneer or crown will take so that it looks natural.

Another way in which a teeth whitening chart is used is to compare your teeth before treatment and after treatment. It is to show you how much progress you have made and how much more you are to expect. Your dentist will also show you what to expect as to the shade your teeth will be in after treatment.

Overall, it would make sense for anyone going to the dentist who would wish to whiten their teeth or seek dental work for veneers and crowns, to consult a teeth whitening chart and ask your dentist how much whiter he can make your teeth. You should expect that your dentist will show you how naturally white he can make them. In fact, some prefer a gradual change in the whiteness, spread over a number of weeks so that it does not shock people. In consulting your dentist, get all the information you can so that both of you can go for a treatment that suits you.