Dental stains are discolouration(s) spotted on either the internal or external surface of a tooth which could either be of endogenous or exogenous origin.
Dental stains are common clinical features found on the surface of tooth especially in most third world countries and those who have some sort of negligence for the maintenance of good oral hygiene.
It is very important to know the bleaching agent, compositions of the bleaching constituents, concentrations of each of the constituents, which type of tooth they are being used for either vital or non-vital and so on in order to avoid procedural errors or even toxicity and damage to the dental tissues.
Now let's discuss on classification of dental stains;
Classification of Dental Stains
Dental stains are majorly classified into three different parts depending on some factors which are as follows:
1- Depending on the colour of the binding agent and the colour displayed on the tooth(NATHOO'S CLASSIFICATION)
2- According to Source of the stain
3- According to Location of the stain
1- NATHOO'S CLASSIFICATION
Nathoo's classification is sub-divided into three parts depending on the colour of the binding agent and the colour displayed on the tooth surface.
Letter "N" is used to denote each of the classes.
i- N1: It denotes tooth discolouration is the same as the binding agent.
ii- N2: it denotes tooth discolouration is different from the colour of the binding agent
iii- N3: it denotes a colourless compound regarded as Prechromogen which binds to the tooth surface and causes discolouration.
2- Classification by Source
Source of dental stains are either from within the dental tissues(intrinsic) or outside(extrinsic) outside of the tooth.
a- Endogenous stains as the name implies mean internal source stains. Endogenous stains are always intrinsic in nature usually occuring due to discoloured dentin. Examples of this class includes; enamel hypoplasia, tetracycline stains, amelogenesis imperfecta and so on.
This type of stains usually occur due to pulpal death or systemic diseases.
b- Exogenous stains are stains that originate from outside the tooth, that is due to external factors and influences which is not from the dental tissue compromise such dentin discoloration or pulpal death.
May fall extrinsic or Intrinsic stains based on location.
Examples of exogenous stains include; stains from tobacco, tea, coffee, cigarette smoking wine, and green stains from herbal concoction and drinks. These stains are usually extrinsic in initial stage but maybe become intrinsic overtime and penetrate the tooth surface if not removed regularly.
3- Classification by Location
Location of of dental stains could either be within the tooth or outside the tooth surface which are regarded as either intrinsic or extrinsic respectively.
a- Intrinsic stains occurs on the internal surface of the tooth mostly due to inflammatory resorption or pulpal death and cannot be removed by self-care methods such as brushing, flossing, scaling and polishing and so on.
They are usually removed through endodontic means and addition of appropriate agents that could bleach off the discolouration from the internal surface.
b- Extrinsic stains simply means observable stains on external tooth surface. This class of stains usually occur from exogenous sources coupled with poor oral hygiene.
Examples of extrinsic stains include; coffee stains, tea stains, herbal drink stains, cigarette smoke stains and so on.
In a nutshell, stains which are initially extrinsic in nature could become intrinsic if not removed regularly and left over for a long period of time coupled with poor oral hygiene.
That's all as regards dental stains on this post. In the subsequent posts, more on dental stains removal and its management would be greatly addressed. Thanks for the unalloyed and unconditional support and attention accorded for the post and happy blogging.
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Video from Teeth Talk Girl YouTuber