How yellow teeth can mar your persona at work

Yellow teeth are injurious to a normal life. You must be wondering why something as puny as yellow teeth can be so dramatically life altering. Before we begin, let’s go through this check list to find out–

Your boss thinks you’re a bore, when you don’t laugh at his jokes. Why? Because your yellow teeth will show. You’re scaring your male colleagues with heavy duty application of your lip colour. Why? Just so that you draw attention away from your teeth to your lips.

You brush your teeth with a load full of toothpaste to get your teeth sparkling clean. Now you only smell of tooth paste at a board meeting and not of cologne. (You have a nickname ‘Toothpaste’ at work and it psyches you out.)

You’re headed for a real low down in life, thanks to your yellow teeth. Suggest, you fix a date with your dentist. As 34 year old Chitaranjan Jindal, a project manager/ managing consultant says, “Yellow teeth are quite distracting. I have gone as far as offering breath mints to people with bad breath or cutting conversations short.”

Why yellow?
While improper or inadequate brushing, heavy intake of black tea and coffee are the some of the culprits, hyperacidity is the main culprit behind yellowing of teeth especially among corporate individuals. “Hyperacidity reflects directly on your saliva that increases its pH balance to acidic causing it to erode the enamel. Now the enamel is the white coating on your teeth while the dentin which is the second layer after the enamel is yellowish in colour. Hence, highly acidic saliva can erode the white enamel, thereby revealing the yellow dentin,” says Dr. Sonal Arora, a practicing dentist in Mumbai.

Yellow habits
Erratic meal times and junk food are factors that disturb the digestive system in your body. This in turn directly leads to hyperacidity and acidity can also lead to bad breadth. Also, vigorous or improper brushing can lead to yellowing of teeth. Helping yourself to a fourth cup of black coffee? Think before you take a sip. Regular intake of black tea/ coffee causes a layer to form on your teeth making them look yellow. Not to forget, smoking definitely stains your teeth.

Cigarettes, colas and more
Dr. Arora suggests some remedial measures to prevent yellowing of teeth.

• Get a dental check up minimum once in three months to a maximum of once in six months in a year.
• Dental procedures such as basic cleaning of plaque, teeth whitening can definitely help.
• Preferably avoid aerated beverages as they chemically erode the teeth enamel.
• Quit or reduce smoking as it tends to erode the teeth enamel and stains the teeth.
• Brushing regularly twice a day and at least one mouthwash rinse a day is essential for healthy teeth.
• Don’t brush your teeth so vigorously that it’ll cause your gums to bleed. To learn the correct technique of brushing, consult your dentist.
• Munch it right. Include fibrous foods such as salads in your diet. Carrots, cucumber etc. help to keep your teeth clean.
• Drink plenty of water as that will keep your mouth clean and prevent the saliva’s pH balance from being acidic.
• Have your meals on time. Empty stomach can lead to acidity, eventually leading to burping. It’s pretty annoying and embarrassing at work, don’t you think?
• Chew sugar free gums to increase the salivation that will keep your mouth clean.
• Last but not the least; laugh at your boss’s jokes, even if it’s not funny. Have a great time at work sporting the best smile in office.