What Causes Black And Yellow Discoloration Of Milk Teeth In An Infant?

Posted on Sat, 23 Aug 2014

Question: My daughter is 15 months old. She began toothing at the age of 8 months. Since last 3 months, we are noticing that her teeths (particularly of the upper jaw) are turnkng black and yellow. In essence the whiteness is eroding on the teeths. We regularly massage her teeths with water while bathing, but don't use a toothpaste or brush as of now because she is too uncomfortable with them. Also she doesn't get her teeths washed after her meals (which is anyways a rare scenario which she doesn't eat/drink anything, including water, except breastmilk). Is there some deficiency going on or what we should do for this teeth color issues? I am attaching a photograph here, which is not clear but may give an impression.

Answered by Dr. Mahesh Kumar T S (53 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Chromogenic bacteria, iron content, scaling

Detailed Answer:
Thanks for your query, I have gone through your query.
As far the stains on the milk teeth is concerned, I have two possibilities.
The stains can occur secondary to chromogenic bacterial infection and the other possible cause could be because of increased iron content in water or any diet (like any supplements)which you feed the baby.
Nothing to be panic, The stains are harmless, It will not hurt or cause any damage other than esthetics. Consult a pediatric dental surgeon and get the teeth cleaned(scaling) once and maintain the oral hygiene by wiping the teeth with a sterile gauze soon after feeding.
I hope my answer will help you, take care.
If any queries are there, reply me back.

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Bhagyalaxmi Nalaparaju