Adult Oral and Dental Care Support Group

does he eat many oreos or ice cream sandwiches?

hahaha no.

Well from time to time I get small brown or black spots on my teeth.
I go to the dentist every 6 months and he says its due to the fact that I get staining.
It could be decay or not sometimes its just a spot caused by my retainers sitting on my teeth in a certain spot.
I don't smoke drink anything but water and don't chew anything well my teeth are yellow and I
don't think they should be this bad.
My dad says my teeth are so brown its looks like I have been eating poop. Nice dad.

could be from crowns. the dreaded black line .

I am no expert but dark spots on teeth sometimes means it could be a cavity or the start of one.

Thats what I always get told by different dentists that I have been to over the years.

The other thing it could be is just staining of the teeth. I have been told plenty of times that my staining of my teeth is just stains and not cavities.

If you wear dental appliances like retainers sometimes they can sit on the teeth and cause staining. The dentist can check if its just stains or if its a cavity.
I have stains from appliances and they won't seem to go away with teeth bleaching.

There is another possibility (although oreos was a great thought LOL). So I am using wikipedia for a good explanation of my theory:

"In dentistry, calculus or tartar is a form of hardened dental plaque. It is caused by the continual accumulation of minerals from saliva on plaque on the teeth. Its rough surface provides an ideal medium for further plaque formation, threatening the health of the gingiva.

Brushing and flossing can remove plaque from which calculus forms; however, once formed, it is too hard and firmly attached to be removed with a toothbrush. Routine dental visits are necessary so that calculus buildup can be professionally removed with ultrasonic tools and specialized sharp instruments."

Sometimes the irritated gum tissues will lightly bleed from irritation. The blood mixed with plaque can look black. My suggestion would be for you to find a kind and gentle way to ask if he gets his teeth cleaned on a regular basis. Professional cleaning my a hygienist or dentist is the only safe way to remove these deposits. One of the easiest ways to bring up this subject would be in talking about your own dental cleaning appointment in a 'have you ever had the same experience' kind of context. The health of your teeth is so intertwined with the health of your gums tissues. Perfectly healthy teeth can literall fall out due to poor health of gum tissues. If it isn't related to decay or from calculus accumulation, I'd guess maybe he is chewing tobacco?? I love that you are concerned for him. : ) Pepsi or other sugarly drink make calculus accumulation more likely. Smoking cigarettes also damages the health of the gum tissues. I hope you can find a way to talk to him and help him get healthy. Good Luck!

Well in my case its strange because I have none of that buildup of hard stuff like the people are talking about but I have seriously yellow teeth. People say go get them cleaned but it does not help because there is no buildup to scrape off of them.
The dentist says I have super clean teeth every time I go in. I use an electric toothbrush and floss daily which is why I don't have the buildup but he says that I should stop eating dark foods so I don't get the staining. I don't smoke or drink coffee or tea. He once said which one are you a coffee or tea drinker and I said neither and I don't smoke either. I can't believe my teeth are this yellow. My dad says it looks like I have been eating poo they are so yellow. He never has anything nice to say anyway but every bleaching job I have had done to my teeth does nothing but make them more sensitive and does not even take any of the yellow away. Its so gross. Any tips people have would be appreciated.

Hi Redd,
I just wrote another topic on exactly the same thing! My BF got what I think is bad advice, was told his black teeth were perfectly healthy! Im so not happy with this because he can neglect himself neglect and years of eating junk and sweets has led to those teeth and that advice has just given him a ticket to continue doing that. He has black at the top of the teeth and black in the gums too. His teeth just look rotten. I cant see what else it could be.

could be from crowns. the dreaded black line from the gums decreasing through through the years.
Or cavities
I got both

If a person has any metal at all in their mouth, this is possibly the cause of black staining. I was told by my doctor that he sees this a lot, and that if someone has a certain type of chemistry, their saliva will galvanize with the metal in their dentalwork, and that will cause a tarnish on the teeth. I have full-mouth crowning, except for about half of my teeth have come out since then, but the crowns have metal, which I didn't want.

So, the metal plus whatever my chemistry is, supposedly causes this, and it is impossible to get it off. I also take iron supplements now since this all started, and it causes an even worse darkening. I can scrape some of it off with toothpicks, and they use pumice at my cleanings, but it still isn't as nice as I'd like.