Taking Tetracycline and It Is Staining My Teeth
Posted by writeradmin
My doctor has me on tetracycline for acne. I’ve been taking it for about two and a half years. At my last dental appointment, I was told that I was getting stains on the backs of my teeth. They described it as brown lines. I’ve heard of something called tetracycline stains. Could this be what is going on with me?
Ethyl
Dear Ethyl,
In almost all cases you would need to be taking tetracycline at the time of tooth development for the stains to be from the medication. That being said, there is one variety of tetracycline, called minocycline, that has been shown to stain the teeth even after they are fully formed. If that is the one you are taking, you may want to talk to your doctor about an alternative.
Dealing with tetracycline stains is a bit tricky. In most cases, when they are on the front of your teeth, I would recommend porcelain veneers. However, your average family dentist would not be able to do these. It is one of the most advanced cosmetic procedures a dentist has to do and you would want someone with post-doctoral cosmetic training as well as an artistic eye.
Your stains are on the back of your teeth, so veneers would be useless. Instead, I recommend that you use teeth whitening. You will have to be persistent and not expect immediate results, but it will improve the stains.
I also recommend that you use Supersmile Toothpaste. This does a good job of removing surface stains that our teeth pick up. Unlike other over-the-counter whitening toothpaste, Supersmile uses an enzyme to safely remove the stain. The ones you typically get at stores instead use abrasives to remove the stains. The problem with that is the abrasives damage the enamel on your teeth which makes them much more susceptible to picking up stains.
This blog is brought to you by Arnold, MD Dentist Dr. Meredith Esposito.