Chromogenic Bacteria stain on teeth

Hi Rose. Sorry to hear about your teeth. I don't blame you for wanting your old smile back. Glad you are going to the dentist to take care of things. Your dentist should be able to give you some indication as to why this is happening and also what you can do to prevent it, in particular your diet. It would be good to eat things a little less in iron levels and see what happens, it wouldn't hurt and I have heard that it can help improve the discoloration of your teeth. Also, if you limit things like soda and caffeine drinks like coffee and tea (as they also cause discoloration). Keep us posted after your appointment too as I am curious to know how it goes. Good luck to you.

Chromogenic bacteria, most often Actinomyces species, are well known to cause stains on teeth. The bacteria produce hydrogen sulfide which reacts with iron in the saliva to form a bacterial plaque that is usually black or has black discoloration to it.

In my research of the topic I found numerous studies confirming the source and how the bacterial plaque is formed. However, I did not find one single article that attempted to find a cure or suggest a prevention method. I find that very odd and, for you I'm sure,very frustrating.

Unfortunately reducing your iron intake will have virtually no effect on the formation of the stains. The amount of iron in human saliva is very low to start with and you can't reduce it low enough without causing iron deficiency.

So, until some smart biologist/chemist/researcher comes up with an agent that can prevent hydrogen sulfide producing bacteria from forming plaque in the mouth, it is up to you to practice extremely vigilant dental hygiene. This means diligent brushing, flossing, and using anti-bacterial rinsed several times a day.

I, too, have this grey staining on the back-sides (mostly) of my front teeth - both top and bottom, though most heavily on the back sides of my bottom front teeth. I also have some staining on the fronts, too.

I learned that bacteria have a "magnetic sense" (read 'Cross Currents' and 'The Body Electric' by Dr. Robert O. Becker), and I attribute this staining to all the electromagnetic radiation in the environment today - cell phones, cordless phones, wi-fi, etc... My teeth didn't begin to discolor until the electromagnetic radiation in the environment started to affect the bacteria in my mouth. In fact, cell phones and cordless phones have been linked to tumors of the salivary glands - parotid glands. And I believe these exposures messed up the bacterial milleau of my mouth. You might want to look into this...

You have to ask yourself, why do you get the stain in the first place?
The bacteria cause the chromogenic staining, yes, however PLAQUE must be present on your teeth for this to happen!
Therefore brushing your teeth at a 45 degree angle to your gums, and having good oral hygiene, should reduce the amount of staining, if not eradicate it totally
Maybe have the way you brush your teeth analysed by your dentist!

BRUSHING ,BRUSHING... u has to do this 3 times a day,, and u can use LEMMON juice ADDED TO salt and Na2CO3,this mix has a whitening effect.

Please don't use Lemon Juice & salt on your teeth!!!

It is incredibly acidic & abrasive, which with continued use will wear away your enamel (hard outer layer of the teeth) and expose the underlying dentine, making your teeth very sensitive.

I would definitely recommend visiting your dentist/hygienist to review your toothbrushing technique. Most people do not brush along their gum-line ( where most of the plaque accumilates ) therefore even if you are brushing for the recommended 2 mintues x2 daily, if you are not reaching the right areas, plaque will still be left & staining will start to develop.

Another option- try some disclosing tablets from your pharmacist ( food dye ) that will dye the plaque & show you where you are missing with your toothbrush- then you can brush it off- just remember to use some vaseline on your lips first to avoid turning them blue too!!

Hope this helps :-)

BS. Electromagnetic radiation of equipment has never been proven to have any affect on everyday life. These kinds of books are damaging to our soceity and the healthcare system.

Hello, There have been newer development and information on the importance of our saliva. GC America makes available a kit to test the ph, among other important characteristics of our saliva. There is a product made by GC America called MI paste. When treating the saliva, you can manage many issues. Such as caries, periodontal disease, and staining. The best idea is to discuss this with your dental hygienist...as they are the most knowledgable in thirst areas. I hope this helped

On the contrary, it's being called the new cancer of our day. My aunt suffered from a tumor on the side of her head where she always held her cell phone. Back in the 80's, she was one of the few to have those huge cell phones and used it daily in her real estate business. The tumor, and treatment of it, caused that side of her face to be completely paralyzed. They now know that the cell phone gave off a lot of radiation. Since then, many companies have realized this and have produced phones that give minimal radiation off.

I had these same types of stains as well. I characterize them as a black line around my gum line. It was extremely embarrassing and it certainly made me self conscious about smiling. I never had them until about three years ago. They just suddenly started to appear. I swear that I changed nothing and always kept very good dental hygiene, brushing after every meal and definitely down to the gum line. I flossed every day. I rinsed at night with several different types of dental rinses. Out of frustration, I even tried scraping off the black lines with a dental instrument, with very limited success. For two years, I tried to get ride of those black lines on my teeth. My dentist said that it was from bacteria and there is no way to get rid of it. So, I suffered for two years. I went to the dentist four times a year to clean those darned black lines.

 

Suddenly early this year, I noticed that the black lines did not come back after my December cleaning. Again, I changed nothing, except I quit being so diligent with brushing, flossing, and rinsing, since that seemed to not help at all. As a matter of fact, all that brushing, flossing, and rinsing made me even more frustrated at those black lines.

 

What I do know is that I had a sinus infection just after Christmas and the doctor prescribed the antibiotic Augmentin 875 mg. I took it twice a day for, I think, two weeks. For eight months now, the black lines have not come back.

 

So, I want to let you know that maybe the Augmentin actually killed that black line bacteria.  

I would love to know more about this, my three children all have this staining, it started with my son (now 10) who was on prophylactic antibiotics for a year waiting for a kidney test from age 1-2. I tired to keep his toothbrush etc away from my younger children when they came along but eventually they both somehow started getting the same stain, It's REALLY bad, not just lines, it looks awful, like they have rotten teeth because they're black. There is nothing wrong with their teeth tho, no fillings, they brush morning and night. I'm sick of the dentist saying I need to make sure they clean their teeth better, I have changed dentists 4 times but none of them seem to have a clue.

I have the same problem and it last for one year now.

I know when it started.

It started after taking medication for an in vitro fecundation.

I hope it will disappear soon.

 

I'm 'JB in Tucson' who no longer has those black lines on my teeth, see post above. I very much posted my success story since I know how embarrassing they are and how my dentist told me there is nothing she could do. She did say to floss every day. Like I said in my previous posting, I religiously did everything I could (brush, floss, rinse, and scrape). Nothing worked.
I'm not a doctor, dentist, or medical professional. All I can say is that after I took the Augmentin 875 mg antibiotic twice a day for two weeks, the black lines did not re-appear. During my last dental visit in September, my dentist asked what I did to solve it since she wants to tell her other patients. I truly hope that this antibiotic is the cure to those black line for you too since I know how it negatively affected me. I smiled a lot before the black lines. After they appeared, I consciously tried not to smile. Now, I have my smile back!
Taking antibiotics have their own risk and I cannot 100% guarantee that is what cured it. But, I am a man of consistency. I know I did not change anything with my dental care since I had already given up getting rid of the black lines.
Best wishes that those black lines go away.

Use 3% Hydrogen peroxide.  I'm very good with my dental hygene (brush 3 times daily and use floss and mouth wash) and started developing the black staining on my teeth with the start of menopause.  I spoke to my dentist about it and that is what they recommended.  It has eveything to do with bacteria and body chemistry and very little to do with diet or pollutents (they can add to it, but are not the cause). Since I started using the H202, the staining has gone away and stayed away.  The Augmentin suggested will probably work too for some people since it's a bacteria, but did not work for me.  I did notice when I was on antibiotics, the staining seems to lighten and reduce, but as soon as I was off the antibiotic is came back.  Since I started the daily H202 treatments (twice a day, AM / PM) the black stain is gone and has not returned.  Do not use more than 3% H202 without dilluting and do not swallow.  You will get your smile back!