Marvin A. Fier, DDS, FASDA

Brown is Hot

Brown is a hot color this year if you're buying a blazer or painting your living room, but not if you are describing your teeth.

If you have brown (or gray) streaks on your teeth, you may have what is known as tetracycline stained teeth.

Between 1950 and 1980, a powerful antibiotic called tetracycline was commonly prescribed to control respiratory infections. Many pregnant women took this antibiotic, and so did young children.

During the time a baby's teeth are forming before and after birth, the teeth are vulnerable to some outside agents. Unfortunately, no one knew that at the time.

Young children also were prescribed tetracycline if they had a high fever. We can usually tell which adults took tetracycline when they were children because of the brown or gray stain patterns on their teeth.

Tetracycline damages your teeth's pearly white complexion when it settles into the tooth's enamel and dentin. Enamel is the outer layer your tooth that protects it from harm. Dentin is a soft material that lies underneath the enamel.

Once teeth are stained by tetracycline, it is impossible to remove the stains because it's not just the outside layer of the tooth involved.

Tetracycline stains can appear brown or gray. Your teeth may be uniformly stained, or they may have horizontal bands of color that range from light to very dark brown.

Sometimes, it is possible to remove a small amount of stain from your teeth by using whitening techniques. To whiten teeth a strong whitening solution is poured into a special whitening tray that is placed over your teeth. There is also a power whitening method in which a high intensity light might be shined on the painted teeth. For either method, it takes several months for the teeth to show any difference.

Perhaps you have a high profile job where people judge you by your smile. Maybe you want to improve your confidence, or you simply want a brighter, whiter smile. Veneers or crowns placed over your stained teeth could be an option to whitening.

Veneers are thin shells of porcelain that are cemented to your teeth. Crowns are a little more complex because we have to remove some tooth structure to reshape each tooth to make room for the crown.

If you have tetracycline stains on your teeth and you want to explore the possibility of improving your smile, please call our office and schedule an appointment. We can examine your teeth and discuss your dental goals with you. Between us, we can devise a treatment program that will help you to achieve your goals.

And those black slacks would look stylin' with your new brown blazer.