Don’t be shy about having stains on your teeth examined. There’s nothing wrong with wanting a nice smile, but in some circumstances, discoloration can also be a sign of a major health problem. Recently, we at Southern Cross Dental in Colorado Springs posted about white spot lesions. Today, we wanted to talk about intrinsic stains: a sign of dental problems in the tooth’s pulp chamber.
Usually, dark stains are a cosmetic issue caused by the teeth being exposed to dark substances, such as coffee or smoke. They can be treated with bleaching and are harmless. An intrinsic stain may be caused by excessive exposure to fluoride or tetracycline antibiotics during the tooth’s formation, in which case it will also be harmless, but may not be treatable with whitening. More often, intrinsic staining is due to infected dental pulp. The infection will likely cause sensitivity and bad breath, and if it becomes severe, it may lead to a facial abscess and sepsis.
An intrinsic stain caused by infection will appear black, red, or purple. We can treat it with root canal therapy, which will eliminate the threat to the patient’s health. Afterward, we may pack the tooth with whitening solution or discuss other cosmetic options with the patient, such as a veneer. We encourage anyone with discolored teeth to come in for an examination quickly; the sooner a stain is treated, the better the outcome.
Drs. Navid and Faranak Rahimpour operate Southern Cross Dental at 1855 S Nevada Ave, Colorado Springs, Colorado, 80905-2516. To schedule an appointment, call 719-471-1717 or visit Southern Cross Family Dentistry and fill out a contact sheet.
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