Why Teeth Discoloration Occurs

The color of a dental crown depends on the condition of the enamel covering the tooth. Experts distinguish about 30 shades of tooth enamel, which determine the color of the teeth – from yellowish to grey, and in all these cases the teeth may be quite healthy. The color and density of tooth enamel are determined genetically, although its thickness may change during life, and with it, a change in the color of the teeth occurs. In children, the teeth tend to have a yellowish tint, because the enamel of children's milk teeth is very thin, and dentin shines through it. In adults, the enamel is dense, and the teeth usually have an ivory shade. But with various deviations in health, the color of the teeth changes and can take on the most unusual shades.

Diseases affecting teeth discoloration

Tooth discoloration can be observed in the case of the development of hemolytic syndrome, when indirect bilirubin is deposited in the tissues of the tooth. It not only can stain teeth in different colors, but also interfere with the normal development of tooth enamel. Hemolytic jaundice, which develops during the Rhesus conflict of the mother and the newborn child, necessarily stains the crowns of milk teeth. Tooth discoloration due to RBC hemolysis can range from grey-yellow and dark brown to green, blue, purple and even black.

Anomalies of the bile ducts, when salts and other substances from the gallbladder enter the bloodstream, can cause discoloration of the teeth. These salts are absorbed by the dental tissues and may cause green stains on the teeth.

Congenital erythrocyte porphyria may present with erythrodontia, and the teeth have a fluorescent red glow with this condition.

Albers-Schoenberg disease, or marble disease, which is congenital osteosclerosis, has a chalky shade of tooth enamel as one of the most characteristic signs. Moreover, such a change in the color of the teeth occurs immediately after their eruption, and then the enamel loosens and is lost altogether.

External causes contributing to tooth discoloration

In addition to internal diseases, external causes can also affect the discoloration of the teeth. So, for example, if the color of dentin in a person is genetically determined as gray or brown, then the teeth will have a similar shade, especially if the enamel is thin and transparent. The following factors often affect the discoloration of teeth:

• smoking,
• drinking strong tea, organic coffee, sometimes  red wine,
• taking certain medications (especially tetracycline),
• Mouth rinses with potassium permanganate solution,
• death of dental nerve,
• tooth trauma with rupture of blood vessels in the pulp,
• presence of silver and composite fillings in the oral cavity.

In addition, teeth darken and change color with age as tooth enamel thins and dentin begins to show through.

Tooth anomalies accompanying discoloration

As a rule, pathological conditions of the body, in which there is a change in the color of the teeth, cause disturbances in the shape, size of the teeth, as well as in the timing of their eruption, or even  in their number.

Complete adentia is extremely rare, but the absence of one or even several teeth  is a very common pathology. Most often, it is explained by endocrine disorders, which can also cause delays in teething and  changing their color. Retention of permanent upper canines, some molars occurs with tuberculosis, rickets, some neurological diseases.

In diseases associated with osteogenesis imperfecta, the patient's teeth are usually very small in size and have a bluish tint to the enamel, and the teeth wear out quickly. Pathologies in the development of enamel and dental dentin cause opal, amber, gray-brown, bluish & nbsp; the color of the teeth and their small size.