Chromogenic Black Line Stains - Toddler Teeth - HealthSurgeon - Healthy Living and Fitness

It can be nerve wracking when looking at your child’s teeth and there are spots all along the gum line. As a parent your immediate thought can be are you brushing your child’s teeth thoroughly enough. Lots of things may cause stains on your teeth. Poor hygiene, dental decay, fluorosis, dental trauma, food and drinks, or even medications. Seeing stains on your child’s teeth may cause you to panic but before you do, talk to your dentist.

Black line stains are extremely common in children. These stains are discoloration of the teeth. They look like a black line that is usually near the gum line most commonly on the front teeth and molars. These stains though are just cosmetic; they do not damage the teeth.

Causes

They are surface stains that are caused by chromogenic bacteria. This bacteria is natural mouth bacteria in your saliva. Some children have an excess of this bacteria when in result causes their teeth to have black line stains. The good news is most children outgrow black line stains. This can happen when their adult teeth start to come in, or as they grow and their oral microbiome changes. The main cause of black line stains is the chromogenic bacteria.

There are other lifestyle choices that can cause the stains to worsen. Diet can be one of them. Eating foods that have dark pigments such as blueberries, blackberries, tomato sauces, or grape juice can cause the stains to be more pigmented or darker.

Iron supplements especially in liquid form can raise the amount of iron in your child’s saliva which can cause their stains.

Swimming in chlorinated pools. This can cause your child’s alkaline pH or raise calcium in your child’s saliva which allows the chromogenic bacteria to thrive.

Diagnosis

Black line stains can appear and disappear almost overnight. Your child may not have them one day then all of a sudden they have stains on their teeth. And just as easily one day you may wake up and they don’t have stains anymore. This is because these stains are so dependent on your child’s microflora in their mouth. This can change day to day as they are growing.

Black line stains are thin, dark lines, usually along the gum line. They usually will not come off with normal brushing. They are most commonly on the front teeth and the molars. The stains are on the exterior of the tooth, meaning they aren’t harming the tooth they are mainly cosmetic. Black line stains may be an indicator that your child may have a lower risk of cavities, this is not always true.

Treatment / Prevention

Some parents decide not to treat black line stains until the child is older. Then getting professional cleanings is the best way to get rid of the stains. A dental hygienist can scrape away the spots then polish them with the heavy duty toothbrush to clean the teeth up best. Keeping your child’s every six month appointments can help stay on top of the stains.

Encourage your child to brush twice a day as well as floss. Using an electric toothbrush can help get stains off better, even though they still may not go away completely with a normal toothbrush. Finding a stain removal toothpaste can also be beneficial for helping keep stains off of the teeth.

After eating foods that are highly pigmented it can be best to rinse your child’s mouth to get all of the excess pigment out and stop it from darkening their stains.

If your child takes iron supplements look for different ways of getting iron instead of in a liquid. You can look for iron supplements that are chewables.

If your child is a swimmer and in chlorinated water a lot, have them rinse or brush their teeth after swimming.

Takeaway

Teeth stains can be concerning especially in your child. Black line stains are extremely common. The good news about these stains is they aren’t hurting your child’s teeth even though they may look funny. It does not have anything to do with poor oral hygiene. Help your child to not be self-conscious about their teeth. Encourage twice daily tooth brushing and keep up your professional cleanings every six months. Eventually most children do grow out of black line stains when their oral microbiome changes.