[Prevention of dental discolorations]

Dental discolorations create serious esthetic problems that are difficulty faced. These discolorations are caused by changes in structure or thickness of dental hard tissues or by coloring agents taken up by dental hard tissues. The purpose of this review was to describe dental discolorations, their etiology and their prevention. Although most of dental discolorations can be prevented, the fact that they still exist, proves that they are not effectively faced. Therefore it is obvious, that people must be educated about some dietary, professional and other habits that can cause dental discolorations as well as about the side-effects of various drugs. Also dentists must have the appropriate knowledge in order to prevent dental discolorations and not to create them.