Stains on my teeth and around the brackets - help!

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#1 Post by **tuscany123** » Tue Jan 03, 2006 9:02 pm

Hi - I'm sorry if this has been asked before - but I need help with the stains that are appearing on my teeth!

First of all, I am 39 yrs old, and had brackets placed about 6 weeks ago. My brackets are like little hinges that come down over the wire, I don't have "bands" like everyone else seems to have. On my top teeth, the top of the bracket is clear, the bottom part is metal. My bottom brackets are all metal.

I whitened my teeth for a month of so before I had brackets placed. Now my teeth seem yellowish all over, and in particular, where the bracket is affixed to my tooth with the "cement", I can see what looks like tea-stains. Again - I don't have bands, so it is definately a stain on my teeth, and around the bracket itself where it is affixed to my tooth. I should add, I am a coffee drinker.

Will a regular cleaning get rid of this? Can I use an over-the-counter brush-on overnite whitener to getrid of these stains? Any tips or tricks that you can pass on to me will be much appreciated!

Thanks - Tuscany.

#2 Post by **weird_wired** » Wed Jan 04, 2006 5:24 am

I'm not sure what advice you were given about the whitening, but it was probably not adviseable to do it before bracing. The reason is that bleaching makes your teeth more porous for a while, and likely to stain if you are not careful: having part of your teeth covered by the bracket obviously means that any staining would be uneven.

My dentist advised me to go on a "white diet" (no red wine, coffee, soy sauce etc) for the duration of my bleaching, and at least a couple/few weeks afterwards.

The only consolation I can offer is that you can always rebleach your teeth again in future, when the brackets come off. And you can always try a whitening toothpaste - but do check with your dentist/ortho first as these can be abrasive.

#3 Post by **mackenzie** » Wed Jan 04, 2006 1:55 pm

I have this too, I was hoping it was the extra glue from around my bracket staining and not my actual tooth. I guess I'll find out when they come off, and we can both whiten our teeth more then, tuscany123.

#4 Post by **LoobyLou** » Wed Jan 04, 2006 2:32 pm

I'm not sure if they have it elsewhere but in the UK we have Eucryl tooth powder which is a stain removing powder that you use once a week or so in place of your normal toothpaste. I find it really effective and it's really inexpensive too - it's been around for years but really does the trick when your teeth are looking stained.

LoobyLou xx

#5 Post by **jenns91civic** » Wed Jan 04, 2006 8:04 pm

Braces tend to make teeth look discolored when they really aren't. At least they did for me. I was super shocked when I got mine off and saw my teeth aren't as yellow as I thought.

I'd ask your ortho and/or dentist about it though.

#6 Post by **mtbrncofn** » Thu Jan 05, 2006 12:04 am

jenns91civic wrote:Braces tend to make teeth look discolored when they really aren't. At least they did for me. I was super shocked when I got mine off and saw my teeth aren't as yellow as I thought.

I'd ask your ortho and/or dentist about it though.

Thank God! I look at my teeth and sometimes they look nice and white and other times I look and they seem yellowish at the top ( above or below the brackets ). I'd hoped it was a shadow from the brackets or something. Your post eases my mind a bit, Jenn. Thanks!

#7 Post by **eurydice** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 7:04 am

Hi, I just wanted to say my bit as well - a few days after my braces were put on, I had really horrid brown staining around each bracket, so I went to see my dental hygienist and she cleaned them all up. Basically, it's the remains of the glue from having the brackets on and it stains realllly badly! Once she'd gone round each bracket with her little tools and things they came up an absolute treat! I now go back for a proper clean every 3 months while the braces are on and this makes me feel much better as having it done properly gets rid of alll the muck. Warning though- once she did bit too good a job and one of my powerchains came off! But I managed to get it back on myself with a pair of tweezers...

Euryx