Question:
My dentist prescribed Peridex mouth rinse for my gum disease, but it has turned my teeth brown. Is there any treatment for this?
Answer:
You’re right–Peridex mouth rinse, while it is excellent for use with various gum diseases, is notorious for causing an awful brown tooth stain. There is only one toothpaste I know of that will prevent and remove Peridex stains, and that is Supersmile toothpaste. An excellent study by renowned cosmetic dentist George Freedman of Toronto showed that Supersmile, if used regularly while under Peridex therapy, will eliminate these brown stains, where nothing else that he tried would do that. Supersmile gently dissolves the protein pellicle, which prevents these stains from attaching to your tooth and eliminates those that are already there, and is so gentle that it is one of only two toothpastes I am aware of that is proven gentle enough not to scratch cosmetic bonding work. Whenever I prescribed Peridex in my practice, I insisted that my patients use Supersmile toothpaste at the same time.
Certain food substances can cause discolored teeth, but their effect is much more gradual. Again, tooth whitening or Supersmile Toothpaste while help them stay their whitest.
Unfortunately, Supersmile whitening toothpaste isn’t sold in stores, but it is available directly from the manufacturer or from many cosmetic dentists. I have a page where I have posted a link for purchasing it. Click here for more information about that.
—Dr. David Hall
Click here to ask Dr. Hall a question.
Other related links:
- There is a link in the menu in the right sidebar of this page to teeth stains. Click that for more information. We also have a stained teeth page that indexes some of the information on this website on this subject.
- Learn what to do about coffee stains and tobacco stains.
- Here’s some general information about whitening toothpaste.
- Hal in Florida wonders what to do about stains on the backs of his teeth.
- What to do for stained porcelain veneers.
- Read about porcelain veneers.
- Click here for referral to an expert cosmetic dentist.
- Learn about tetracycline stains, which come from antibiotics taken while the teeth are forming.
Click here to return to frequent questions about cosmetic dentistry.