A smile has a great impact in our beauty-conscious society . The appearance of the dentition is of concern to a large number of people seeking dental treatment and the color of the teeth is of particular cosmetic importance. The aesthetic appearance of teeth has an important role in physical attractiveness and mental health of each person.
Tooth discoloration produces profound embarrassment and more psychological distress leading patients to seek treatment. The etiology of dental discoloration is multifactorial and is caused by local and systemic conditions. Tooth discoloration can be classified on several bases i.e. on the basis of etiology, location and number of teeth involved.
Tooth discolorations are associated with many clinical challenges. It is crucial to understand the clinical presentation and etiology of different types of tooth discoloration in order to make a correct diagnosis and select the most appropriate treatment for each case. The color of the stain tells a lot about how the discoloration occurred.
In this lecture, color based oriented categorization will be discussed as it is valuable in the decision-making process. We also look at the different colors of teeth stains, the causes of these severe discolorations and evidence-based options for possible treatment recommendations.