Causes Of Brown Tooth And It's Treatment

Causes Of Brown Tooth And It's Treatment 

Most Brown teeth are not only disturbing but can also indicate oral health problems that must be addressed immediately. In some people, brown teeth can also trigger bad breath.

There are several ways you can do to get rid of it, ranging from home treatments to medical treatment with a dentist.

How to get rid of brown spots on the teeth can vary from person to person, depending on the cause. 

Therefore, you also need to know the things that can trigger your teeth to turn brown.

Causes of brown spots on teeth:

There are quite a few things that can cause brown teeth. According to WebMD - Some of them include

1. Dark-coloured food and drinks

Dark-colored foods and drinks such as tea and coffee can also stick to the teeth and over time create brown spots on the teeth.

Other foods and drinks that can leave brown teeth stains are red wine, soda, blueberries, blackberries, and pomegranates. Poor dental hygiene can increase the risk of tooth discoloration

2. Smoking habit

Cigarettes contain tobacco which is one of the common causes of brown teeth. This is because the nicotine content can stick to the teeth and leave a residue in the form of brown stains. This can be exacerbated if you are a heavy smoker and don't pay enough attention to your dental hygiene.

3. Tartar

Bacteria in the mouth can mix with saliva and various food particles to form dental plaque. If you have poor oral hygiene, the plaque will settle and harden into a more permanent layer called tartar or calculus.

The presence of calculus can make your teeth brown and to remove it you will need the help of a dentist.

4. Cavities

Holes in newly formed teeth can look like brown patches on the surface of the teeth. These holes can form when bacteria that accumulate in the oral cavity produce acids that make the enamel or outer layer of the tooth become damaged or cavities.

When the enamel layer is damaged, the underlying layer called dentin, which is yellow-brown, becomes more visible, resulting in a discolored tooth.

If not filled immediately, the damage will spread and the hole will get bigger. In severe conditions, the tooth can turn black.

5. Hereditary factors

Hereditary or genetic factors can also affect the color of a person's teeth. So it is not surprising that the color of teeth varies greatly from person to person.

Some can have very white teeth while others are slightly yellow or beige. Brown teeth can be caused by genetic disorders such as dentinogenesis imperfecta, which causes brown spots to appear on the teeth.

6. Enamel hypoplasia

Enamel hypoplasia is a condition where the enamel layer of the tooth is not fully formed. Enamel is the outermost part of the tooth that is generally yellowish-white in color. 

This condition can occur due to genetic or environmental factors and may be caused by a variety of things including:

Vitamin deficiency

Maternal illness, or malnutrition during pregnancy

Exposure to toxins

This condition can affect one or more teeth and is often seen as brown or yellow rough-cut spots.

7. Diseases and drug side effects

Certain medical conditions such as celiac disease can cause tooth decay, including brown teeth. In addition, medications such as tetracycline antibiotics and the diabetes drug glibenclamide can also stain teeth.

Children who take these drugs during development or mothers who take these drugs during pregnancy can also cause children to have brown teeth.

How to remove brown spots on teeth:

How to remove brown spots on teeth will depend on the cause. In general, there are several ways you can try to regain a healthy tooth color, such as:

1. Tooth filling

If brown teeth are caused by cavities, then the most appropriate way to remove them is with dental fillings. The sooner you fill the cavities, the better. If tooth decay is already severe, the filling process will be more complicated.

In some cases, brown teeth that have been severely damaged cannot be filled and must be treated using more complex procedures such as root canal treatment followed by the installation of a crown.

In the most severe cases, the tooth will need to be extracted as it cannot be preserved with any treatment.

2. Tooth scaling

Dental scaling is a way of removing brown spots on the teeth caused by tartar. In the scaling process, the dentist will also usually remove stains caused by smoking

3. Dental veneers

For brown teeth caused by taking medications such as tetracycline, bleaching is usually not enough to restore the healthy color of the teeth. This makes dental veneers an option because, in the veneer process, the dentist will cover the tooth surface using a special material so that the color can be adjusted to the color of healthy teeth

4. Teeth bleaching

Teeth bleaching is the process of whitening teeth using certain materials. Usually, bleaching is chosen to brighten yellow teeth, but in some cases, this treatment can also remove brown stains on teeth caused by food and drinks.

The brown color caused by food and drink has absorbed into the surface of the teeth making it more difficult to remove by other methods.