Hi, I'm eighteen years old and I've had braces since I was about fifteen. When I was much younger I refused to brush my teeth as often as I should have and I've always suffered from staining and decay on my a few of my teeth. Now that I'm older, I brush my teeth frequently but the damage is already done. Due to the braces, I've been noticing that some of the stains around my front teeth that used to be white are now turning brown and I'm freaking out. Is there anything you can recommend to fix this problem before it gets any more out of control? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

—Alyssa from Massachusetts

Alyssa,

Excellent question. These brown spots can turn into tooth decay spots very easily, and they might be already. However, there isn't much you can do about the brown spots right now, except get them checked and make sure they don't go soft. If they go soft, that means they're turning into decay, and they will have to be filled—but doing a good filling around your braces is very tricky—the fillings would certainly have to be re-done when you get your braces off.

But if you keep brushing after EVERY TIME YOU EAT, they shouldn't decay. And avoid ANY SNACKING unless you can brush right afterward. If you absolutely can't brush, then rinse really well to get the gunk out as much as possible, but you really need to brush.

The brown spots will have to be bonded, but that will have to wait until you get the braces off. We have about four cosmetic dentists in Massachusetts that we recommend. Go to an expert cosmetic dentist, and he or she will be able to fix your brown spots and white spots so that no one will ever know they were there. They use tooth bonding to accomplish this. But bonding requires considerable artistic ability and very specialized restorative materials, so be sure to go to an expert.

One treatment being used for these lesions is Tooth Mousse. It can be placed on the teeth to help prevent or treat these lesions.

Good luck,

—Dr. Hall

Other related links:

• Read about the three types of stained teeth.
• Annie from Wisconsin asks if she can get discolored teeth from ascorbic acid powder.
• Supersmile® recommended for teeth stained with Peridex anti-bacterial rinse.
• Click here for referral to an expert cosmetic dentist.
• Is there a connection between acid reflux and tooth decay?
• Read about coffee stains on teeth.
• What damage is caused to the teeth from bulimia?

This information is provided for you by the mynewsmile.com cosmetic dentist referral service, and was personally written by Dr. David Hall.