I am 20 and have always have VERY good dental hygiene, however ever since I was very little, and my adult teeth came in, I have had brown discoloration on my front two teeth. I was told that this is because I was extremely sick as a baby, and my fever has caused this discoloration. My dentist and I have tried any and all “off the shelf” whitening products that we can find, however it only makes the tooth around the spots whiter, and it makes the discoloration darker. My dentist wants to try an experiment where she will grind away at the front of my teeth until the discoloration is gone! This concerns me to a great degree not only because of the pain that I am sure it will cause, but also because she does not know how much she will have to grind! Is there something else that I can try? Would professional whiting make a bigger difference? I am willing to try just about anything. I have always wanted perfect teeth, and I am sick of people thinking anything else of me because of these awful spots!
– Courtney from Wisconsin
Courtney,
I advise you to not let your dentist experiment on you any more. She didn’t understand bleaching, and she could do considerable damage to your teeth as she tries to figure out how to get rid of these brown spots.
You’re not too far from one of our recommended Wisconsin cosmetic dentists who knows what he is doing. I recommend you see Dr. —-. That’s going to be a pretty good drive for you, but it’ll be worth it to get this problem solved and have beautiful front teeth. Then, if you like your family dentist, go back to her for your regular care.
Yes, tooth bleaching won’t remove spots. I discuss this on our brown spots on teeth page. Bleaching generally will make those spots look worse because it whitens the whole tooth, making the spots more prominent. It’s too bad your dentist didn’t know that.
There is a slight possibility, depending on the type and severity of your spots, that they could be removed with a process called microabrasion. This often works with white spots, but is unlikely to work with brown spots, unless they are very superficial. So you’re probably looking at direct tooth bonding or porcelain veneers, depending on how extensive the spots are. But again, 98% of dentists aren’t qualified to do this kind of work.
So pick one of our true cosmetic dentists. I have carefully screened every cosmetic dentist recommended on our website and I’m confident any of them could take care of this problem for you.
Dr. Hall
Click here to find a cosmetic dentist.
About David A. Hall
Dr. David A. Hall was one of the first 40 accredited cosmetic dentists in the world. He practiced cosmetic dentistry in Iowa, and in 1990 earned his accreditation with the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. He is now president of Infinity Dental Web, a company in Mesa, Arizona that does advanced internet marketing for dentists.
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