Dark brown marks on teeth

[Braingoneawol]

My DS is 3.5 and is generally pretty good about having his teeth cleaned. He has an electric toothbrush and does them himself for practice, after which I then do them again to ensure they are properly clean. They are done morning and evening. He uses a normal child-friendly toothpaste.

For quite some time he has been developing brown stains on his teeth. These are mostly on the canines, with a little bit on the outside and a lot one the inside. It is at gum level and spreads upwards, and one tooth is almost completely covered on the inside.

The dentist has said his teeth are fine and it is nothing to worry about, and in any case they will be replaced by adult teeth eventually She cleans them quite well when he goes, but not the worst one as she has said she doesn't want to do too much and put him off going.

He doesn't drink squash, only milk and water, not excessive fruit (eg a pear, a satsuma, a handful of raisins and a date each day), and the odd treat, but really not very much at all. He doesn't take any iron supplements.

I am baffled. Has anyone come across this before and what can I do? It's doesn't look very nice and he is getting self-conscious.

[blaeberry]

Did you take antibiotics when pregnant?

[Louiebishbosh]

Too much fluoride?

[Braingoneawol]

Thanks hollingbury. Looking at a few images, I'm not sure it's that as his teeth don't have the blotches. They are normal looking white but with dark brown, almost black stains, as if someone has drawn on them.

Sadly he has noticed and is self-conscious enough that he has asked to go to the dentist to get it cleaned off!

[hollingbury]

Could it be hypoplasia - enamel is quite thin? If you google it, there's quite a lot of info on it. My son has it - it means we have to be extra careful with his teeth (his is mostly around molars and not noticeable) as it makes them more vulnerable to decay, but it is really common. It won't be anything you're doing.

Does he really feel self-conscious at 3.5?