Natural color is milky white, slightly translucent. If the teeth are snow-white, the dentist has intervened; such tones are not present from birth. The shade depends on dentin and enamel. In a person's youth, the enamel layer is stronger. The dentition looks whiter if the enamel layer is dense and does not allow light to pass through. This is achieved by removing irregularities.
With age, teeth wear down, the surface becomes smoother, light passes through more easily, which makes the image dimmer. The enamel becomes brown, yellow, black or gray. Different parts of the structure have different colors. A light shade predominates on top, a dark shade on the bottom. But each person has his own natural tone - this is normal.
Author of the article: Shirokov Ivan Yurievich
Work experience:
15 years
Specialization:
Dentist-orthopedist
Works:
at the clinic on Butyrskaya metro station
What color is considered normal for a milk bite?
Baby or primary teeth in children are usually whiter than permanent teeth in adults. This color comes from thinner enamel than permanent crowns. If the milk crowns have a yellowish or grayish tint, then this indicates their disease or a metabolic disorder in the body.
The method of returning the natural shade to temporary units depends on the reasons for its change. Sometimes it is enough to exclude certain foods from the diet and start filtering the water, and the color of the crowns will gradually be restored. If the change in enamel color is caused by a disease, then it is important to establish a diagnosis and select adequate treatment.
What do natural teeth look like?
Innate color depends on:
- genetic factor;
- human habitat;
- skin color, race.
There is a common belief that black people have a white smile. This is a fallacy, an optical illusion. Their smiles appear brighter against dark skin backgrounds. If you compare the jaws of an African American and a Slav, the result is the same. This phenomenon is found in tanned people. If a person lies in the sun for at least an hour, this is enough to transform his smile.
Reasons for changes in enamel color in children
- Some diseases of a pregnant woman: viral or bacterial infections of the mother’s body, as well as some medications (for example, tetracycline antibiotics) leave an imprint on the development of the fetus, including the formation of its tooth buds. This is fraught with the fact that the baby will erupt in units already with a defect (enamel hypoplasia or hyperplasia, tetracycline teeth, etc.),
- initial stage of caries: may change the color of milk crowns (white spots appear on them),
- fluorosis: a surplus of fluoride in a child’s body (due to the large consumption of fluoride-containing products, water, the use of toothpaste with a high content of this element) changes the color of the enamel, it becomes grayer and at the same time rough, brittle, with grooves,
- treatment with iron preparations: if they are used in liquid form, they cause temporary darkening of the tooth surface,
- constant consumption of coloring products: blueberries, bird cherry, sweets and drinks with artificial colors or based on red and blue berries.
General presentation and purpose
This scale is presented in the form of a plastic tape onto which models of human teeth made of various materials (plastic, ceramics, porcelain, paper, etc.) are attached. This scale contains 16 different shades.
The Vita scale made from ceramics is considered to be the most accurate; it is this scale that allows you to most successfully select the shade when filling.
Today, no dentist will perform whitening without first comparing the initial and final results on the Vita scale. It is equipped with special retractable structures, which make it very convenient to compare the shades of hard-to-reach teeth.
In total, there are 4 main groups of tonality that the human eye can evaluate:
- Group A. These include teeth with a reddish-brown tint.
- Group B includes red-yellow shades.
- Group C – tones of gray.
- Group D - red-gray shade.
According to the degree of brightness, each group includes from 1 to 4 tones, which vary in increasing order from the lowest to the highest. That is, units with shade 4 will be the darkest in a room with natural lighting levels.
It is worth noting that the elements of the human jaw arch have different shades, depending on their location. Therefore, an experienced dentist will make comparisons at several points; only in this case can the most reliable result be obtained.
The Vita scale, made of paper or plastic, gives a less accurate result. It is best to use slats with ceramic or porcelain teeth examples.
What elements are included in popular chemical teeth whitening systems, and how often it is recommended to carry out the procedure.
Let's look at the pros and cons of whitening with the Bleach n Smile system here.
Reasons for changes in tooth shade in adults
- violation of the rules of brushing teeth at home: irregularity, unsuitable toothpaste or brush,
- hereditary reasons
- the richness of the daily menu with pigmented products: black berries, strong black and red tea, coffee without milk, red wine, ketchup, soy sauce, etc.,
- smoking: gives a yellow or even gray-yellow coating,
- With age, dentin darkens and enamel becomes thinner: therefore, crowns acquire a darker shade than in youth - due to translucent dentin. Thinning of the enamel due to metabolic disorders also leads to a change in the color of the unit, because dentin is naturally yellow,
- deficiency or surplus of certain vitamins or microelements: zinc, fluorine, iron in the body,
- the presence of an old filling: often its elements penetrate into the dentin over time, oxidize and color it gray or red, which affects the external shade,
- microrelief of the crown surface: the more pronounced it is (grooves, pits, roughness), the darker the crowns appear.
Attention! After professional teeth cleaning (without bleaching), crowns may become a shade or even two lighter. This happens because the hygienist removes plaque, which gives a darker color, grinds and polishes the teeth, leveling the microrelief.
Current promotions!
I WANT COLOR A1
Option 1. You are lucky - your teeth are like this by nature.
Take care of them! Regularly undergo comprehensive hygiene procedures and, if possible, try to limit dyes. But nothing lasts forever, and neither does the natural whiteness of teeth. Most likely, this will go away with age, unfortunately.
Option 2. Bleaching. There are several methods, they may have different names, the equipment used and the price, but the principle is the same - the chemical effect on the enamel with derivatives of hydrogen peroxide, with or without the use of a light lamp.
Is it effective? Yes, but under certain conditions: firstly, there should be no fillings or restorations on the front teeth, otherwise they will become noticeable after the whitening procedure and will need to be redone. Secondly, over time, the natural color will return, and bleaching must be repeated. After whitening, teeth can become very sensitive, so much so that repeating the procedure will be impossible. Repeated bleaching severely damages the enamel.
Option 3. Artistic restoration using composite materials. This method is applicable if your teeth are not ideally shaped and have natural wear. The doctor can use light-colored material, but all teeth that are visible when smiling and talking must undergo restoration. The advantages of this “build-up” are that the method is quite gentle, but the disadvantages are a large amount of expensive work and a shortage of specialists who are fluent in this technique. And of course, like everything else, restoration is not eternal.
Scope of application of the Vita scale
Using a basic color chart, the dentist can identify the “native” shade of a person’s teeth or detect, if any, possible color defects. The fact is that the same tooth color looks different in people with different skin colors. For example, an unpleasant yellow tint is masked if a person returns from vacation very tanned, and then his smile appears white. However, the Vita scale helps to adequately assess the clinical picture. Such a tool is important in several dental fields.
The Vita scale is often used in the following situations:
- professional teeth cleaning with ultrasound and Air-flow: after ridding the patient of plaque, the hygienist must make sure that he has restored the natural color of the crowns. In addition, the Vita scale can be used before the procedure to conduct a comparative analysis of the effect of tartar on the color of crowns and to develop an individual oral care program for a particular person (this may include both nutritional correction and the cessation of bad habits, the use of certain brands of dental pastes and even brushes),
- for whitening in the clinic: laser, intracanal, photo bleaching, chemical bleaching. The doctor needs the palette to determine how many shades the enamel needs to be whitened, whether the result will look unnatural and whether it will lead to negative consequences, especially if the patient wants a snow-white smile, but the condition of his crowns does not allow him to achieve such a shade. In addition, during the procedure, the doctor should check the result so as not to overdo it,
- dental restoration: in the presence of chips, cracks and other surface defects, it is important that the filling, crown or microprosthesis are not noticeable on natural dental tissues.
Restoring lost color
If initially the patient’s teeth were much lighter and brighter, but over time they began to darken and lose their natural shade, you can try to do without expensive whitening and restore the color yourself. Typically, the following techniques give a good effect, provided they are used regularly:
- Quitting bad habits and, first of all, smoking.
- Maintain good oral hygiene, including brushing with fluoride-free whitening toothpastes and rinsing.
- Regular visits to the dentist and timely dental treatment.
- At least temporarily avoid drinks and foods with dyes, caffeine and fluoride.
We should not forget about prevention, which is recommended even if the normal color of tooth enamel is preserved. If all the efforts made were in vain and the smile is still far from ideal, you can resort to more radical measures.
As a rule, we are talking about professional services that include dental cleaning with the removal of stones and accumulated plaque, as well as external or intracanal whitening, which is most often carried out using special chemical solutions based on hydrogen peroxide. The latter procedure is indicated primarily for those patients who have suffered periodontitis (traumatic), and its main disadvantage is the increased sensitivity of the teeth.
If you want to make your teeth perfectly white for the long term, then it is better to resort to installing veneers, lumineers or ultraneers. It should be noted that, in addition to aesthetic indications, such manipulations are relevant for patients whose teeth have darkened due to regular use of medications or after the installation of artificial materials (fillings) that caused a change in color.
How is the Vita scale used?
All the previously mentioned reasons must be taken into account by the dentist when a patient comes to him who needs treatment or cosmetic restoration of crowns. In all these cases, the doctor must focus on the natural appearance of the enamel in order to select the filling material of the desired shade or install veneers. For this, doctors use the Vita scale.
It is represented by a kind of palette, divided into quarters (sectors), designated by indices A, B, C and D. Each sector has several subtones, and thus the doctor has the ability to operate with 16 shades. This allows you to correctly correct the color during treatment or prosthetics. In addition, the patient himself can compare and choose the shade that seems most natural and acceptable to him.
Interesting! The Vita scale is usually made of laminated cardboard, plastic or thick paper, but professionals use a movable table with painted acrylic or ceramic overlays. This device is convenient to apply to the teeth, comparing and adjusting shades. The basic table produced by Ivoclar Vivadent (Liechtenstein) has good reviews from doctors all over the world. Its slats include the lightest shades (Bleach) of groups A, B, C and D. This palette costs 1,400 rubles.
In modern dentistry, all possible shades of enamel are usually divided into 4 groups:
- group A: reddish with a brownish bias, includes the five most popular shades - A1, A2, A3, A3.5 and A4,
- group B: red with a yellow bias. Includes 4 semitones from B1 to B4,
- group C: gray shades. This also includes 4 semitones - from C1 to C4,
- group D: red with a gray bias. Less common in our country, it has only three subtones - from D2 to D4, and D1 is absent altogether.
“The Vita scale is easy to use. Reusable, easy to apply due to the fact that it is laminated. I recommend purchasing this product for those who whiten their teeth at home. It will last a very long time."
Nastya, review from otzovik.com
Bleach teeth color - Hollywood smile
No matter how much natural beauty is valued, many patients dream of a dazzling white smile, like that of movie stars. For such cases, the Vita palette includes four snow-white shades “Bleach”, which do not exist in nature.
Bleach 1 and Bleach 2 are bright white enamel with virtually no yellow pigment. Such shades are associated with shockingness and can only look good on stage, in the spotlight and against the backdrop of bright makeup. In shades Bleach 3 and Bleach 4 a small percentage of yellow pigment appears, but they still remain outside the natural palette.
The bleach color of ceramic veneers looks more appropriate on dark skin. Those with Northern European appearance are better off giving preference to natural shades a1 and b1 - they are just as light, but look more organic.
Tone selection features
To accurately determine which shade of the crown will be as close as possible to the natural color of the patient’s teeth, the doctor conducts a test using the Vita scale (see the visual photo below). According to the Vita determination rules, the dentist first selects which of the 4 groups the patient’s enamel color belongs to, and then within this group begins to select shades that most closely match the color of neighboring units.
How tone is assigned
The Vita subtone number is assigned based on the decrease in whiteness: the higher the number (or index), the darker the enamel color will be. For example, an overlay from the palette marked as A1 is the “whitest”, and A4 is the darkest of group A. And this rule applies to all groups.
2. Why high technology doesn’t always help
You can often read negative comments on forums that computer technology is not used to determine tone. And although there are programs developed specifically for such a procedure, the most accurate is still a visual comparison of the patient’s crowns with the base table.
Interesting to know! An adequate assessment of color by a computer is influenced by many factors: the lighting in which the image loaded into the program was taken, the resolution and color sensitivity of the camera used to take the image, and the color calibration of the computer itself. And even if at some point there was a failure of a tenth of a percent, this may affect the final result, and the sample selected by the computer will turn out to be lighter or darker than necessary.
In addition, using programs to determine the color of crowns is more expensive than using the basic Vita table, which is why doctors most often resort to this method, especially in small dental offices. And it’s more convenient for patients to compare samples in person.
3. What conditions are necessary for high-quality diagnostics
Despite the fact that using the Vita scale is cheaper and gives more accurate results, it is important to observe certain conditions when testing:
- Before testing, you need to brush your teeth twice: once at home, immediately before the appointment, and the second time the doctor cleans it using special solutions. This is necessary in order to remove microplaque that forms daily on the enamel and can affect its color,
- It is recommended that the patient come to the appointment wearing clothes in neutral pastel colors and with an open neck so that the fabric does not contrast with the face and teeth. If a person wears white, black or other bright clothing, this may distort the doctor's perception,
- In the dentist’s office, it is important to create high-quality lighting: if testing takes place in the dark, dentists use powerful lamps or special frames with LEDs to simulate daylight, which are held by the doctor’s assistant or the patient himself during testing. For the accuracy of the procedure, it is important to fully illuminate all crowns,
- the patient must be healthy: the choice of color tone according to the Vita scale, as a rule, is carried out only on healthy units of the dentition and in the absence of any chronic acute diseases in the patient. This is done because any serious disease of organs and systems can affect the natural color of crowns,
- if the patient has teeth with different shades of enamel: here the doctor often recommends an intermediate shade or a decision is made to correct not just one tooth, but the entire smile area.
Colors of Emax ceramic veneers
Emax glass-ceramic microprostheses differ from conventional ceramic veneers in their manufacturing technology. Accordingly, for overlays of this type there is a separate color scale - Vita 3D-Master. Here, not two, but three color selection options are used.
- Brightness - from 1 to 5.
- The tonality is L (more yellow) and R (more red).
- Saturation - from M1 to M3.
To determine the shade of the future veneer, the doctor first determines its brightness, moving from the darkest to the lightest, then selects the intensity level M and, lastly, the tonality L or R. The color codes of the Vita 3D-Master palette consist of three symbols - for example, 3M2 .
How to maintain results for a long time
After dentures or whitening, it is very important to keep the color of your smile natural. To do this, it is important to follow the recommendations for caring for dentures (if artificial crowns or veneers were installed) or directly for the teeth (after the whitening procedure).
As a rule, the main stages of care are daily oral hygiene, exclusion from food (at least for the first weeks) of coloring foods - berries, wine, strong tea or coffee, as well as quitting smoking.
Good to know! Bleached enamel becomes thinner, and therefore more sensitive, so to care for it you need special gentle pastes and brushes with soft bristles. Doctors also advise rinsing your mouth after every meal and using floss for high-quality cleansing.
The same goes for veneers and ceramic inlays. For example, it is not recommended to use electric ultrasonic toothbrushes if you have such microprostheses, since the high frequency of rotation or vibration of the brush head can heat the prosthesis or peel off the adhesive, which leads to deformation of the prosthesis or a reduction in service life.
Do not forget to visit the dentist once every six months so that he can monitor the condition of the oral cavity and dentures, adjust hygiene procedures, and also diagnose the presence of diseases, in particular caries, in a timely manner.
Where to get prosthetics?
Many clinics provide partial or complete prosthetics services. Find doctors based on reviews. Contact a clinic that has proven its professionalism through experience and work.
A doctor who knows his business will not rest until he brings his smile to perfection. The equipment of the clinic is important. Equipment in the hands of an experienced doctor works wonders. You will get what you expected.
As for the price, it depends on the case. Prices range from 1,700 rubles for simple crowns to 30,000 for lumineers or veneers. The procedure will cost 21,000 apiece.
Why and when is the scale used?
The Vita table is used in medicine to determine the naturalness of the tone, as well as the possible presence of a disease. If there is a significant difference from the norm, the doctor will provide appropriate treatment. In other words, the teeth tone scale is a kind of hint when examining a patient.
This auxiliary tool is not always used by dentists, but only in cases of need, when the patient plans to begin the whitening procedure, as well as treatment and straightening of a natural smile. The doctor may also need this tool when selecting and installing a ceramic implant.
What is chemical teeth whitening?
For your information! Chemical whitening refers to one of the professional procedures aimed at making tooth enamel lighter.
It is not very popular among Russian dentists, but in a number of specialized clinics it can still be found in the list of services.
In fact, every type of professional lightening is chemical , since it is based on a certain chemical reaction.
It occurs under the influence of a special gel, which contains either urea or hydrogen peroxide.
The gel can act either independently or with the help of a catalyst (ultraviolet rays, laser).
However, the main difference between chemical clarification is the absence of any external catalysts .
In the process, the drug penetrates into the tooth enamel, after which it dissolves the dirt that has accumulated there. If the procedure is carried out by a quality specialist, then you should not be afraid of harmful effects on the teeth.
Keep in mind! Chemical whitening is quite effective, but to maintain the result, experts recommend combining it with a home whitening system and cleansing pastes.
Pros of this method
Note! The main positive aspect of teeth whitening is getting a beautiful smile. Another advantage of chemical enamel lightening is its speed.
You can get a decent result on the first try , and you will have to spend no more than one hour in the dentist’s chair.
It is also worth noting that the effect lasts quite a long time.
On average, the effect of the procedure lasts for a year, and with proper care this period can be extended to one and a half years.
How to choose the shade of veneers: useful tips
In order for the final result to look harmonious, when choosing the shade of dentures you must:
- pay attention to the color of the eyes and the shade of the whites, take into account the color of the skin and hair - in darker people, the teeth and whites of the eyes look much whiter. A person with a neutral, non-contrasting appearance, like most Slavs, is better off choosing more natural shades;
- do not apply decorative cosmetics to your face before selecting the color of veneers;
- Wear clothes in light, non-garish colors when visiting a doctor;
- Do not whiten your teeth the day before your visit to the dentist.
Reviews
Below are some reviews. If you have something to say, leave your feedback in the comments below the article, it will be useful to our readers.
Elena:
I spent a long time choosing between different types of whitening. As a result, I settled on the chemical one, since it seemed to me the safest. I can say that I was completely delighted. My teeth are about ten shades whiter! I plan to repeat it next year.
Andrey:
My biggest fear about dental procedures is pain. But, fortunately, chemical lightening turned out to be completely painless. The doctor carried out the procedure quite quickly, it took less than an hour. In principle, I am satisfied with the result; my teeth have become much whiter.
How to choose a color?
If the patient is going to choose the tone on his own, take into account the conditions that affect the visual component:
- Skin tones. The darker the skin, the whiter the teeth look.
- Hair. Like with skin. Brunettes have a brighter smile than blondes.
- Whites of the eyes. If they are dimmer than the smile area, it looks unnatural and stands out too much when opening the mouth.
- The material from which the dental structure is made. Plastic materials differ from metal ceramics, even with the same index on the Vita scale.
Changes in lighting and dimming distort the perception of colors. The walls in the clinic and the clothes of the dentist and patient should be of a neutral shade. Women are advised to remove lipstick. Sometimes the rest of the cosmetics are removed.
Indications
Like every dental procedure, this type of lightening has its own indications:
- Whitening is worth doing if you notice changes in the color of the enamel , which are associated with hypoplasia (non-carious damage to the teeth).
- The chemical type of procedure is well suited for those who have bad habits - smoking or drinking coloring alcoholic beverages (for example, red wine).
- Changes in the color of teeth that are caused by age-related changes in humans .
- "White spots" on teeth caused by discoloration .
- Yellowing of pulpless teeth.
It is worth noting! Chemical whitening will be most effective on smooth, pre-cleaned teeth.
