New adult teeth not a great colour - experiences please

[StressingOut]

Hi. I know there are far worse things than this, so I apologise for making a fuss about it, but it's really upsetting me.

DS (7)'s new front teeth seem to be coming in looking fine (pretty white), and then within a few months they have yellow/brown stains on them. I really don't know why - we're really assiduous about cleaning. I give sugarfree gum after meals, and he doesn't snack.

The dentist didn't seem to have any problem with them at the last check-up (less than a month ago), and he doesn't have any fillings, but they really don't look very nice.

Does anyone have any experiences of this? I'm worried about teasing, etc.

Many thanks in advance.

[StressingOut]

Hi MrsRabbit, glad you could get it fixed.
Were you ever offered any other options (like white fillings put over the marks? Do these even work on front teeth?)

[MigGril]

I'm no expert but our dentist, did tell us not to use adult toothpaste until DD adult teeth started coming through. When I asked why he said to much fluoride while the teeth where forming could cause permanent staining on the adult teeth. I used fluoride free toothpaste until I could get her to spit it out.

I think this is one of the reason why it's not a good idea for it to be in the water supply, it doesn't affect everyone but some are more prone to it then others.

[ilovepowerhoop]

we dont have it in our water (Scotland) so we are advised to use toothpaste with 1000ppm fluoride from when the first teeth start to appear and to use 1450ppm from age 6

[StressingOut]

That's interesting that different people are differently susceptible to fluoride, MigGril. I sort of discounted fluoride to start with because there must be loads of people living in fluoride areas who also use fluoride toothpaste, and not everyone's adult teeth are affected. DS has also had fluoride varnish at the dentist since he was a toddler I think. So I suppose it might all add up.

[StressingOut]

So does anyone know if it's possible to get a bit of fluorosis from combo of kids' fluoridated toothpaste (just pea sized but often not spat out till after 4yo), fluoride from the local water and fluoride varnishes on baby teeth? Or would you have to also eat toothpaste? (don't think DS ever did this)

[MrRabbitsUtopia]

No, at the time my mum made me use various whitening pastes which didn't work, the marks were definitely part of the tooth. I'm not sure that fillings would work as they would be quite visible on the front teeth, I had both veneers done even though it only affected one tooth, for that reason, that it would look odd with one tooth slightly different to the other.

[AngelinaCongleton]

My dd has/ had this. We dropped the expensive electric toothbrush and went back to manual. Big difference with adult toothpaste and scraping with flosser. A work in progress after a month but enough progress to make me optimistic. Think will drop the mouthwash too.

[AngelinaCongleton]

My dd is 8 and dentist similarly unconcerned but by god they looked awful.

[StressingOut]

Hi Angelina. Thanks for the response. So scraping with a flosser is working? Can I ask why you dropped the electric toothbrush (we also have one of these for DS)? Hope your progress continues!

[AngelinaCongleton]

We dropped the electric toothbrush because I thought looking back that the staining could probably have coincided with the new toothbrush. I think the adult electric toothbrush heads are good but the kids ones (as recommended by dentist) actually are pretty crappy when you look what they do. My dh prefers a manual, so I bought her a vibrating manual one and she scrubs for 2 minutes then I do a count of 20 on both her front top and bottom teeth. We use Colgate whitening sugar neutralising toothpaste. I also bought disclosing tablets and we do that once per week and it's making her think independently about where she needs to ensure she's brushed. I also think it's probably a good thing to brush manually as a child to get used to it. I was really upset about it for her and had all the fluoride thoughts too, but now I think was the toothbrush.

[Dickorydockwhatthe]

Same here with ds. When they are brushed rigously with a electric tooth brush they look slightly better but by then if the day they look awful. It's his bottom teeth. They look yellow and dark yellow/brown around gum lines again dentist doesn't seem worried. I was tempted to get a second opinion tbh.

[Willdoitinaminute]

Mouthwashes just wash away the fluoride they have just applied while brushing. Unless prescribed, dentists advise against the use of mouthwashes and rinsing mouth with water after brushing. Some over the counter mouthwashes contain chlorhexidene which is great for staining teeth.
Also when teeth first come through the surface is very ridged a bit like corrugated iron and this will pick up stain easily. A cheap whitening toothpaste may help (we use macleans).
On a more technical note the enamel in baby teeth is very different to adult enamel making baby teeth much whiter but less robust. It is often the contrast in colour when they are in mixed dentition stage that makes the adult teeth appear very yellow.

[StressingOut]

I see what you mean about it being good to get used to manual brush, Angelina. Will definitely consider this for DS. Glad to hear you're seeing improvement, anyway.
Dickory, it's surprisingly distressing, isn't it? Hope you get somewhere with it.

Willdoitinaminute, thanks so much for this information. I'm actually really pleased to hear that the enamel is different when it first comes through - gives me hope! I've gone out to get a whitening toothpaste (went for Colgate) so I'll see if that helps. Have also stopped the mouthwash (I tended to use it at times of day other than brushing, but was never quite sure about it anyway).

I've booked a dentist appointment to discuss it, anyway (might be a bit OTT since he saw the dentist a month ago, but I didn't ask about this in depth).

Thanks again to everyone for their responses.

[Romeyroo]

DD had this problem, but we got Colgate Max White, the optic one, and it literally made her teeth look much better overnight. She is 11 though, so maybe not ideal for smaller children.

[StressingOut]

Hi Romey, that's the one we've got (has sort of visible crystally things in it). The packet says for age 7 and over so I thought probably OK. Glad to hear it worked for your DD.

[MrsSlocombesPussy]

This happened with DD's teeth. The dentist told us that the surface of the new teeth is rough to begin with, and gets stained easily. He gave them a quick polish at her checkup, and we just try to keep on top of it.
We've started using disclosing tablets every so often, to make sure she's cleaning them properly. We crush one in a little water and use it like a mouthwash, as she doesn't like chewing them.

[StressingOut]

Hi MrsSlocombe, what the dentist told you sounds reassuring (and sounds like what willdoitinaminute said above). Glad to hear that your dentist wasn't concerned too either, and that polishing might help. All the best to you and your DD.

[StressingOut]

"too concerned", not "concerned too"