15 Oct Yellow Teeth: Why your child might have them and how to prevent it?
We all find healthy white teeth attractive, but, unfortunately, sometimes our kids’ teeth not as white as we would like them to be. Below we will look into some reasons why children’s teeth might be yellow and stained, and offer some solutions for this problem.
Reasons why your child’s teeth are yellow and recommendations how to make them whiter
Poor Dental Hygiene
We need to admit: not all the kids enjoy brushing and flossing their teeth and do it properly. To encourage your child to do a proper teeth brushing you can:
- Make sure kids are brushing and flossing twice a day
- Get a musical toothbrush
- Buy toothbrushes with cartoon characters on them
- Buy toothpaste with fun flavors
- Brushing and flossing twice a day
- After consuming sugary, acidic foods or drinks, encourage them to brush within 30 minutes to an hour.
Dental Fluorosis
A condition that occurs in young children (usually 8 years and younger), when too much fluoride is consumed as permanent teeth are forming under gums. The fluoride harms enamel causing the teeth turn yellow.
One recommendations would be, don’t use fluoride on children under the age of 2. Another idea is: Use a small amount of fluoride toothpaste for kids 2 to 6 years old. Encourage children to spit toothpaste, and not swallow.
Permanent teeth might look more yellow naturally
It is very common (and natural!) for permanent teeth to look more yellow than baby teeth. Actually, baby teeth called milk teeth because they look whiter. Permanent teeth have a layer underneath called dentin. Dentin is usually grey and yellowish in color and it is thicker in permanent teeth. If you think that your child’ teeth are too yellow, you should consult a dentist.
Medications
Tooth darkening may be a side effect of some medications, such as antihistamines, antipsychotics, and high blood pressure medications. If administrated to children when their teeth are developing these medications may cause discoloration of their permanent teeth later in life. Chemotherapy and head and neck radiation can also darken the teeth.
Trauma
Injury to tooth may cause discoloration because the tooth reacts to injury by laying down more dentin, which is a darker layer under the enamel.
Food and Drink
Colas, fruit sodas, and candy laden with dyes can quickly stain teeth if consumed frequently. Coffee is also becoming a major contributor to stained teeth in adolescents and teens. Intense color pigments called chromogens, which appears in all these drinks, attaches to the white enamel and causes the staining.
Some recommendations are:
- Limiting or eliminating these drinks from kid’s diet is a good way to help preserve enamel and keep teeth white. One of the alternatives – creating bubbling drinks with sparkling water and fruits.
- Consuming hard fruits and vegetables can also help clean and whiten teeth. Celery, carrots, apples, and pears can help to remove surface stains and bacteria from teeth through a scouring action as they are chewed. Some fruits such as apples contain malic acid, a chemical contained in many commercial whitening products that aids in removing surface stains from teeth.
We understand that even if you follow all of the above recommendations, you (or your child) might be still not satisfied with the teeth’ color. In this case teeth-whitening procedure might be a solution. We advise consulting with your pediatric dentist to make sure that you choose age-appropriate whitening techniques. Experienced dental specialists at Kids Pediatric Dentistry in Allen will look into all the aspects of your child’s dental history and recommend best teeth-whitening option for your child.
Please don’t hesitate to contact our Dental Office in Allen Texas and book an appointment. We will make sure that your child’s smile stays bright and confident!
RELATED LINKS:
https://www.propdental.es/en/blog/aesthetic/foods-that-stain-teeth/
https://www.mouthhealthy.org/en/ways-to-improve-smile
http://www.kidsdentalonline.com/dental-topics/teeth-whitening-safe-children/
http://zapyellowteeth.com/prevent-yellow-teeth-children/