Why teeth turn black and what to do about it

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Without a dentist, the problem will most likely not be dealt with.

Immediately, let's say that blackening teeth are not the norm. A healthy smile can be white. Or yellowish - if dentin appears from under the enamel that has become thinner with age. But dark gray and even more black areas that you cannot get rid of with a regular toothbrush and toothpaste are a definite reason to go to the dentist.

To let you know what to expect from this visit, we've compiled the most common causes of blackened teeth. And we found out what needs to be done in each case.

Why teeth blacken in adults

Sometimes it is easy to fix the situation, but there are also difficulties.

Caries

Carious cavities can have different colors - yellow-brown, gray and even black. Sometimes they occur inside the tooth without visible destruction. In this case, the hole will show through even through the enamel layer, giving the surface a steel tint.

What to do

Treat tooth decay. How long it takes depends on how far the destructive process has gone.

Perhaps the dentist will simply process the carious cavity and close it with a filling. But if the inner part of the tooth (pulp) is damaged, root canal treatment will be required. Or maybe the tooth will have to be removed altogether, replacing it with a bridge, prosthesis or implant.

Iron-rich water

Usually, the plaque has a yellowish tint, but in some cases it looks more like black spots.

Researchers speculate that this may be due to excess iron in saliva. So, black plaque is more common in people who regularly drink water with a high concentration of this metal.

What to do

Most likely, you will need professional teeth cleaning. And possibly whitening them. In the future, your dentist will recommend brushing your teeth more thoroughly to avoid plaque. And also, if possible, stop drinking water with a high iron content.

Food that stains the enamel

Classic examples of such foods are mulberries, blueberries, beets, and canned cherries. Formally, they do not paint the enamel itself, but again the plaque on it - it has a porous structure and easily absorbs pigments from food. But it looks like the teeth themselves have turned black.

What to do

"Product" color change is unstable. Usually, brushing and rinsing your mouth is enough to bring your teeth back to white.

Pigmented Oral Care Products

These can be pastes or rinses. For example, containing coal. The smallest black particles of such products can stain plaque and thus change the color of the teeth.

What to do

Refuse such funds. Or, at the very least, rinse your mouth more thoroughly after using them.

Supplements with iron

On the one hand, they increase its content in saliva, that is, they can also affect the formation of black plaque. On the other hand, the connection between the intake of dietary supplements and the appearance of dark spots on the enamel has not yet been traced. But just keep this possibility in mind.

What to do

Be sure to tell your dentist that you are taking iron supplements. The doctor will either dismiss this version of darkening of the teeth, or give recommendations that will stop the discoloration. Well, a specialist will carry out a professional cleaning.

Digestive problems

The risk of developing black plaque also increases in people whose saliva has a high pH. That is, it has high acidity. It may be associated with certain gastrointestinal conditions such as gastroesophageal reflux (GERD).

What to do

The dentist will help remove black plaque. And then he will recommend contacting a gastroenterologist in order to exclude possible disturbances in the work of the gastrointestinal tract.

Smoking

Smokers' teeth most often have a characteristic yellow-brown pigmentation. But in some cases, the plaque formed with constant smoking may be black.

What to do

It will take professional cleaning and probably bleaching to bring back its healthy color. It would also be helpful to quit smoking. Or at least reduce the daily amount of cigarettes.

Silver sulfide crowns or fillings

They can also give the tooth enamel a steel tint. But indirectly.

Amil Mukhdarli Dentist-therapist.

The enamel from the crowns does not darken, and the gum darkened due to the proximity to the metal or metal-ceramic restoration gives the effect of a black tooth.

Such fillings (also called amalgam fillings) are considered obsolete. In modern dental clinics, instead of them, options from ceramics or zirconium dioxide have long been installed. But, perhaps, the person has preserved the old model, put in place many years ago.

What to do

Ideally, the amalgam filling should be replaced. And not only because it "blackens" the teeth.

Amil Mukhdarli Dentist-therapist.

Such fillings, even despite the presence of seemingly disinfecting silver, are simply dangerous: they contain mercury.

In addition, a carious process often begins under the filling - dentists call it secondary caries. Therefore, in any case, the tooth under the crown must be checked and, most likely, treated.

Genetics

There are certain hereditary diseases that can affect color. For example, dentinogenesis imperfecta. With it, the formation of enamel is disturbed. Due to this developmental anomaly, teeth can be yellow-brown or gray with a bluish tint.

What to do

First, make an accurate diagnosis. Only a qualified dentist can do this. He will prescribe treatment. Therapy will depend on the age, severity of dental problems and patient complaints.

The specialist will suggest professional whitening or other treatments. For example, bonding: the dentist will apply a white composite material to the tooth, and then strengthen the structure using a special polymerization lamp. You can also hide color changes by installing veneers or crowns.

Tooth trauma

A strong blow can cause blood vessels inside the pulp to rupture. The resulting hematoma, if it is large, will show through the dentin and enamel.

What to do

Bleach and vigorous cleaning won't help here.

Karina Tultseva Children's dentist, hygienist.

In such cases, it is imperative to take an X-ray of the tooth. Only then can we choose some kind of treatment tactics.

Leaving the damage unaddressed in the hope that it will heal itself is dangerous. The hematoma can really disappear. But such an injury has serious consequences. For example, root resorption (resorption) of a tooth. And ankylosing - further overgrowth of the root with bone, which in the future will inevitably lead to tooth loss.

Poor endodontic treatment

If the root canals were not treated by a very professional specialist, they may darken. And, shining through the enamel, give a gray-black shade to the entire tooth.

What to do

Previously, in such situations, the crown was simply installed in the "correct" white color. But modern dentistry offers an alternative.

Amil Mukhdarli Dentist-therapist.

If the tooth has turned black due to illiterate endodontic treatment, that is, root canal treatment, then there is a way out in this situation - this is intracanal bleaching. The tooth is immediately brightened almost to its native shade.

Why teeth blacken in children

The reasons are usually the same as in adults. Adjusted for the fact that babies are unlikely to have metal crowns with silver sulfide, and smoking is irrelevant.

But there are also specific reasons to be aware of.

Caries

Children's dentist Karina Tultseva says that carious cavities in children develop much faster than in adults.

What to do

At the first suspicion of caries, contact a pediatric dentist. If you catch the pathological process that has begun at an early stage, the milk tooth can be easily cured.

Black plaque

Black spots (Russian dentists call them Priestley's plaque) are much more common in children than in adults. This may be due to age-related characteristics regarding the composition of bacteria in the oral cavity, and, again, age-related imperfection of the digestive system.

What to do

To remove black plaque, the dentist will perform a professional cleaning. Often this is the only way out, since Priestley's plaque is unlikely to be removed at home.

Karina Tultseva Children's dentist, hygienist.

This cleaning can be done every three months if the situation requires it.

With age, the bacterial composition in the oral cavity, as a rule, normalizes, and after the next cleaning the plaque no longer makes itself felt.

Mother taking antibiotics during pregnancy or breastfeeding

In particular, drugs of the tetracycline series can have such an effect.

Amil Mukhdarli Dentist-therapist.

The black horizontal stripe along the entire dentition is tetracycline teeth, that is, congenital blackness.

Color changes can appear on milk teeth and disappear with the appearance of permanent ones. But sometimes blackness persists into adulthood.

What to do

Treatment depends on how pronounced the discoloration is and what condition the teeth are in.

Karina Tultseva Children's dentist, hygienist.

Somewhere we can get by with cleaning, polishing and home remineralizing therapy. But basically it is either aesthetic restoration with composite materials, or orthopedic treatment - the installation of veneers or crowns.

It is absolutely impossible to whiten milk teeth. This procedure can be very painful and lead to the destruction of enamel and teeth in general.

The procedure is allowed to be carried out no earlier than 3-4 years after the change of teeth to permanent ones, when they are finally mineralized.