My seven year old's teeth have recently begun to look like they are stained gray, uniformly for the most part. Looking on the web for answers, I think it might be due to a multivitamin and/or a floride rinse he uses. His brushing habits have not changed. I want to get him into the dentist as soon as I can, but my husband just started a new job and insurance won't kick in for 90 days. Anyone have a similar experience? Can the gray be removed with a normal cleaning?
EDIT: Thank you all for your advice. I called the dentist this AM and she's out until Wed. So I'll know more then. In the meantime, he's not taking the vitamin or using the mouthwash. If we have to take him in before the insurance kicks in, we will, of course. It's not due to an injury. I'm thinking it might be too much iron, or the mouthwash as that was the biggest change. His last cleaning was in Nov., and he just saw the dentist in Jan for a small filling. That seems like too short a period of time for ALL of his teeth to have decay. Again, thanks for the help. I'll update after we've talked to the dentist.
Thank you again for your responses! My son's dentist fit him in her schedule as soon as she was back in the office. It turns out that it was iron from his vitamin. She was able to clean it off with no problem, and to top it off she didn't even charge us for the visit!
TOO MUCH FLORIDE! It's already in the water, so there's no need to be rinsing with it. I read recently that children are being diagnosed with some problems associated with too much floride.
Hi J.,
It could be dental fluorosis. This is caused by an overabundance of fluoride. It simply eats the enamel off the teeth. The dental community believes fluoride is good because it kept people in third world countries from getting as many cavities as they used to. These tests were done in areas where no one brushed their teeth. Of course it prevented cavities. I will say that no one has a fluoride deficiency... If it is fluorosis waiting 90 days is not going to do any harm because it will not get any better. Once enamel is gone it's gone. Stop using all fluoride until you see the dentist. If it's not fluorosis it could be a multivitamin gone bad. Sometimes the minerals in cheap vitamins do more harm than good.
The dentist will have information and options for you. If it is fluorosis there is sure to be some sort of cosmetic dentistry that can help. Cosmetic dentistry has come a long way in the last 30 years.
God bless,
M.
Is it all his teeth or just one or two? I've never heard of this across all the teeth, but I have seen teeth turn grey when they die. Sometimes if a kid bonks a tooth really hard the root will die and it will turn grey. The tooth will stay in there until it's ready to fall out which could be a year or more, although at 7 it probably wouldn't be that long. If it's all his teeth, I would agree to at least call a dentist and ask some questions.
I don't have any experience with this...but I wanted to suggest calling the dentist and ask much it would cost to bring him and just have the dentist look. Without cleaning and X-rays I cant imagine it would be too high. Also, maybe they can give you some information over the phone.
Is the water he drink flourinated? Is he taking supplements? Usually is you are only doing one of the two he wouldn't be getting too much flouride...But if he is using toothpaste with flouride and a rinse that may be too much...you dentist should know!
Good luck!
Im not sure if this is true or not, but if your son takes an inhaler, I was told that you need to brush your teeth after every dose of inhaler. That the medicine left on their teeth can cause damage. At the very least they need to rinse thier mouth out w/water after using an inhaler to wash off any medicine left on their teeth.
I do not have a brilliant answer for the gray, but would mention that this helped me before I had dental insurance: a discount program -it was called Ameriplan and while not insurance I paid a few dollars each month and they discounted my visits to a dentist. It helped through the years while my children were little and I didn't have insurance. I believe Sam's Club and Cosco have programs like this too. They are a nice temporary service while you wait. Check them out if you are concerned. And no, I do not work for any of these operations, just a friendly suggestion.
DId he slam his teeth or injure them in any way? I had a friend in HS that was slammed in the face with a baseball and the tooth apparently "died" and turned gray. The tooth never fell out or anything just got cut off from blood flow.
My son's top tooth did this and it was the result of a (years before) fall & impact on the tooth. I t can take years for the entire nerve/root to die.
My son's tooth had to be pulled lest the infection damage the permanent tooth.
In your case, I think you should pay out of pocket for a dental exam.
Good luck!
Hi
I took my daughter to the dentist because over 2 weeks her teeth progressivly got darker and I was freaking out! We got to the dentist and he was asking if she bumped her mouth etc... then right before he took an xray he asked what vitamin we gave her. At the time we were giving her the brown polyvit with flouride. He said let me try one thing first, he took out the little polisher they use while cleaning and cleaned the front of her teeth for a minute and they were back to white! She was in for a 6 month cleaning one month before so no her teeth were not that bad yet lol.. He suggested changing to a chewable tablet and then the problem was resolved.. hope that is all it is for you :)
My son's dentist told me that this sometimes happens when you receive too much iron -- possibly by way of his multi-vitamin.
I have heard of some medications turning children's teeth gray. . .
If possible find a way not to wait 90 days -- three months! -- before you see a dentist. This could be a cosmetic thing that the dentist can buff away (like another poster noted, when the problem was stains from a vitamin) or it could be something serious but you have no way to know and we have no way to tell you -- we're not dentists. Waiting three months is a long time. See if you can find a dentist or pediatric dentist, explain the situation, and see if the dentist will see you for a one-time fee. They might refuse (maybe there are liability concerns, I don't know) but it's worth trying.
