Yellow Stained Teeth in Leicester
"My teeth look yellow" is one of the most common things people say to us at the first appointment, usually with an apology attached. There is nothing to apologise for. Tooth colour is one of the first things people notice in a photograph of themselves, and it is also one of the most misunderstood, because the word "yellow" covers three completely different problems with three completely different fixes.
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Think of it like a mark on a white shirt. Some marks are on the surface and come out in the wash. Some are the fabric itself having faded, which no washing will reverse but a different process will. Some are a dye that has gone right through the fibres, which needs a different approach again. Teeth are the same: surface stain, natural shade, and colour from inside the tooth.
The mistake most people make, and the reason so many are disappointed by whitening kits, is treating all three as if they were the first.
We explain how we assess your shade, who whitening is and isn't suitable for, what a whitening course involves, and what it costs.
How we work out which kind of yellow you have
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We don't guess from across the room. At a new patient examination (£70) we do three things that determine everything that follows.
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First, we look at where the colour sits. Stain that is heaviest at the gum line and between the teeth, and that changes tone across the tooth, is almost always on the surface. Colour that is even across every tooth and is warmer than you would like is usually the natural shade of the dentine showing through the enamel. A single tooth that is darker or greyer than its neighbours is telling us something happened inside that tooth, and we will want an X-ray before anything else.
Second, we record your starting shade against a standard dental shade guide, the same tabbed guide used to match crowns and fillings, and photograph your teeth under consistent light. That matters more than it sounds. Whitening happens gradually over a couple of weeks, and because you see your own teeth every day the change is easy to miss. Comparing against the recorded shade and photograph afterwards means the result is measured, not remembered.
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Third, we check that your gums are healthy and there is no untreated decay or leaking filling. Whitening gel on a tooth with an open cavity or on inflamed gums is uncomfortable and unwise, so those get sorted first. That sequencing is not an upsell; it is the difference between a comfortable course and a sore one.
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You leave with a written plan that says which category your discolouration falls into, what would realistically change it, and what each option costs. If the honest answer is that a scale and polish will do most of what you want, we will say so, because it is the cheaper option and you will be happier with a result that matches what you expected.
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Who can legally whiten your teeth in Leicester
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This is worth knowing before you book anywhere. In the UK, tooth whitening is classed as dentistry. Only a dentist, or a hygienist or therapist working to a dentist's prescription, can legally carry it out, and the General Dental Council has prosecuted beauty salons and mobile whitening services for doing it without registration. Products supplied for use at home by a dental professional can contain up to 6% hydrogen peroxide; anything sold over the counter or online to the public is limited to 0.1%, which is why shop-bought strips and pens do very little. Products advertised online at higher strengths without a dentist involved are being sold outside the law, and if they burn your gums or leave your teeth patchy there is nobody accountable.
Whitening is also not permitted for anyone under 18 except where it is needed to treat or prevent disease, so if you are asking on behalf of a teenager the answer for now is a hygiene visit and good habits until they are older.
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Smile Serenity is registered with the General Dental Council and the Care Quality Commission. Our whitening is prescribed and supervised by a dentist, with trays made from an impression or scan of your own teeth so the gel stays where it should.
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Is whitening suitable for you?
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For most adults with healthy teeth and gums, yes, and the change can be considerable. There are a few situations where we would advise waiting or choosing something else.
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If you are pregnant or breastfeeding we recommend postponing, not because there is evidence of harm but because there is no evidence of safety either, and it can wait. If you have very sensitive teeth already, whitening is still possible but we would plan it more gently, with a lower-strength gel, shorter wear times and a sensitivity toothpaste in the weeks before you start.
If you have untreated gum disease or decay, those come first. If you have white fillings, crowns or veneers on your front teeth, whitening will not change their colour, so we plan around that, sometimes whitening first and then replacing the visible restorations to match the new shade. If the discolouration is a single dark tooth, marks from childhood, or banding from antibiotics taken when the teeth were forming, standard whitening will not give you an even result and we would talk about bonding, veneers or internal whitening instead.
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None of this rules you out of a brighter smile. It just means the route there might be different from the one you had in mind, and it is better to know that at the start.
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What a whitening course actually involves
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Most of our patients have take-home whitening, which we prefer to one-off in-chair sessions for a reason: it gives a more even, more stable result, and you keep the trays for top-ups later.
At the first visit we take a digital scan or impression of your teeth and record your shade. A few days later your custom trays are ready. They are thin, clear and made to fit only your teeth, which is what keeps the gel off your gums and is the main difference between this and a one-size kit.
We show you how much gel to use, which is far less than people expect, and how long to wear the trays. Depending on the gel we prescribe that is either a couple of hours a day or overnight, for around two to three weeks.
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The change is gradual. Teeth lighten a little each day, which is why the recorded starting shade matters. Some sensitivity during the course is common and temporary; if it bothers you, wearing the trays every other day or shortening the time almost always settles it, and you can call us rather than pushing through. At the end we photograph your teeth again and compare to your starting shade.
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The fee for a course of take-home whitening is from £375, which includes the scan, custom trays, the gel for the full course and the review appointment.
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Keeping the result
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Whitening is not permanent, but how long it lasts is mostly down to habits rather than the treatment. Most people are happy for a year or two before wanting a light top-up and we recommend a top up usually for one night every 6 months. Tea, coffee, red wine and smoking bring colour back fastest; a glass of water after them, and a straw for cold drinks, slows that considerably. A hygiene visit every six months removes the surface stain that would otherwise build up on top of the whitened shade, and is the single most effective way to keep teeth looking the way they did at the end of the course. Avoid abrasive "whitening" pastes and charcoal, which wear the enamel and make teeth look yellower over time, not whiter.
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Related pages
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Discoloured teeth rarely arrive on their own, and the right page depends on what you have noticed. If your gums bleed when you brush, or there is hard deposit at the gum line, start with our page on gum disease and bleeding gums. If a tooth has become sensitive as well as darker, see sensitive teeth. If one tooth has gone dark after a knock, or you have a tooth that was root-treated years ago and has greyed, our emergency dentist page explains when that needs looking at quickly. For the treatments themselves, see teeth whitening in Leicester, scale and polish and composite bonding. All of our condition guides are collected on the dental conditions hub.
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Find us
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Smile Serenity Dental Care is at 72A Lutterworth Road, Aylestone, Leicester LE2 8PG, with free on-site parking and easy access from Wigston , Blaby , Glen Parva , Braunstone and the city centre . Call 0116 403 0109 or book a whitening consultation online. If you are nervous about coming in, or feel self-conscious about the colour of your teeth, tell us when you book and we will take extra time.
