• Question: why does your teeth go yellow if you dont brush them

    Asked by 296bsmf29 to Elliot, Hazel, Thomas on 23 Jun 2016.
    • Photo: Thomas Biggans

      Thomas Biggans answered on 23 Jun 2016:

      The white part of your teeth is called the enamel. The enamel is like a jacket which protects the inside of your teeth.

      Some foods that you eat stain your enamel and bits of plaque and tartar can get stuck to your enamel. Both of these things look yellow so it makes your teeth look yellow. By brushing your teeth you scrub away all the plaque and tartar and get rid of the food before it stains leaving your enamel nice and clean.

      Its the same as if you had a white car, a car gets mud and dirt on it just by driving around. To get it back to white you have to clean the car!

    • Photo: Elliot Jokl

      Elliot Jokl answered on 24 Jun 2016:

      Another element to this is that the enamel can get thinned out as it wears down or is eroded by tooth decay etc, which makes that layer go a bit see through. The layer underneath (dentin) is yellow in colour, so that is another way your teeth can get more yellow.

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