With all activities, feeding programs, and exhaustion which is come your newborn baby, the healthy teeth may not be one of the first things that you take care of, even after those first baby teeth show up. However; once you notice some splash and discoloration in your toddler’s teeth; you will not hesitate to search and ask about the causes and solutions to sort out this problem or you will book an appointment as soon as possible with a pediatric dentist.
Kingdomofbaby will talk in this article about toddler’s teeth and why it looks discolored.
What is teeth discoloration?
Normally teeth discoloration happens if the appearance and color of the primary teeth change from the usual color which is white or ivory color.
There are two types of tooth discoloration:
1. External teeth discoloration:
The external discoloration happens when the toddler starts eating food; having drinks or getting medication, and discoloration appears at the enamel surface of the teeth.
2. Internal teeth discoloration:
Internal teeth discoloration is quite complicated than the external one.
Internal teeth discoloration can happen for too many reasons related to a lot of internal factors that can affect the health of your toddler.
some of these reasons are congenital defects such as incomplete development of enamel; systemic syndrome; a metabolic disorder; and so on…
Most mothers wondering about when the toddler tooth discoloration appears; so they can get ready for it.
When does tooth discoloration appear in a child?
Actually; there is no specific age we can base on it to know tooth discoloration in a child and detected any white or grey splashes; because even the first teeth that your baby has can show these issues.
That is why it is very important to pay full attention and cheek your baby’s tooth all the time to know what you have to do about it and take the right action.
What are the causes of tooth discoloration in toddlers?
Several reasons can cause tooth discoloration in toddlers:
Insufficient clean of teeth
Sometimes mothers forget to ask their children to clean the teeth and even when they do that by themselves they brushing them in the wrong way; as a result of this plaque starts to appear. Usually, plaque consists because of the accumulation of bacteria that come from food.
Dental caries
Dental caries is an inevitable result of the activity bacteria that we mentioned above; also improper brush can cause dental caries.
Enamel hypoplasia
This is a genetic cause when the enamel coating becoming thinner than normal or is missing in the teeth.
in case if that the coating is optimum or thin in some places. Enamel deformities can appear on the toddler’s teeth as crashed flat; hard surfaces or with different colors as yellow, white or brownish discoloration on the influenced teeth of your toddler. Because of this, the toddler who has a weak enamel will suffer from discolored teeth.
Fluorosis
The appearance of white splashes or lines on the teeth of your toddler can be the symptom of fluorosis.
Fluorosis appears when there is too much fluoride in the toddler’s mouth either because of:
- The water that the toddler use contains excessive fluoride.
- The child’s toothpaste which immoderate fluoride.
Shock
The shock which can occur to the teeth of the newborn even gums because the fall or the blow during an accident (even before the emerging out of the teeth), may cause discoloration. The discoloration occurs because the blood vessels in the pulp chamber breaks, as well as the blood, become absorbed by the dental tubule that pass to the enamel. because the enamel is considered as a semi-transparent, the blood’ stain is reflected throughout the enamel. usually the injury is giving a gray even pink tinge to the teeth of the toddler.
Chronic illness
Newborn hepatitis, high fever and some kind of heart disease can cause tooth discoloration.
Use of medicines
The medicines that the mother uses during pregnancy to face some health problems such as flu or urinary tract infection can make the discoloration of the toddler’s teeth later after born.
Also, a lot of medication and vitamins which have iron can be a reason for dark splashes that appear on the teeth of your toddler.
How is tooth discoloration in toddlers treated?
The treatment of the toddler tooth discoloration actually based on the reasons that cause the problem. If it was an external reason like food and drinks you can make the normal color back by:
Adult toothbrush: using adult toothbrush and toothpaste to clean the tooth is a help to have a clean tooth, but if you force the toothbrush while brushing, the enamel and gum can be damaged.
Also, you can use some bread and soda to clean the tooth but is better if you keep in touch with your dentist, because even that your toddler can have tooth decay.
Bleaching technique: this is one of the ways that are used by the pediatric dentists so as to remove the hard splashes and avoid the tooth discoloration of your toddler.
How can teeth discoloration in toddlers be prevented?
avoid the tooth discoloration of your toddler that happens because of external factors if you:
Cleaning the baby’s teeth: If you start cleaning your toddler teeth regularly as they just appear you will always have clean teeth, you can use a soft cloth to do that at least once a day.
Bedtime: do not let your toddler sleep with a bottle of milk because the milk can leave sugar on the teeth which are not good for them.
Feed healthy food: healthy food make the accumulation of bacteria in the mouth of your toddler less and avoid the discoloration of teeth. Make your toddler has enough calcium and vitamin D.
Low fluoride toothpaste: using toothpaste that has less fluoride.
Teach the baby to spit: when your toddler starts spitting it will help him clean his mouth from food and toothpaste after brushing his teeth, and this will make discoloration of teeth less.
Read Also:
- What To Expect When Your Baby Starts Teething
- Would You Be The Reason Why Your Baby Is Born Gay?
- What Are The Signs Of Baby Teething And How To Soothe The Pain?
