Hi, 3months ago I bought a home teeth whitening kit from my dentist to use before my wedding. It did make my teeth sensitive so after awhile I stopped using it and it made my teeth slightly whiter, however just recently I have developed a brownish mark on my front tooth and I have no idea why as I don't drink coffee, red wine or foods that can stain them. Could this be due to the whitening kit? This tooth is sensitive and now looks bad but I'm afraid to try whitening again. Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

I'd suggest seeing your Dental Hygienist to see if the stain could be polished off. If the tooth is sensitive to hot or biting you should see the dentist as the nerve in the tooth could be dying or dead. Are you using any mouth rinses such as Crest Pro Health? |This rinse is known to cause staining.

Hi flossie, I was hoping to get a reply from you as you seem to give very good dental advice. I am not using those mouth washes but I'm using a natural one which is very mild. My tooth is abit sensitive to hot and cold but mainly to acidic foods or dressings which I am trying to avoid. I feel the pain is coming from underneath, it does feel as though a nerve is exposed or something but the pain and color change has only happened since the whitening. My other teeth are healthy.

I am seeing a dentist in a couple of weeks. If the tooth is dying what would be the options?

The option for a dying tooth would be a root canal.

If your tooth is sensitive to acidic foods it sounds like you might have some root exposure or acid erosion. Try using Sensodyne toothpaste or a similar toothpaste for sensitive teeth. After eating acidic foods try to wait 30 minutes before brushing your teeth as the acids soften the enamel and if your brush right away it causes the teeth to erode.

Thanks a lot flossie, it does feel like a nerve is exposed from the bottom. I will get it checked out.

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Originally Posted by flossie

The option for a dying tooth would be a root canal.

If your tooth is sensitive to acidic foods it sounds like you might have some root exposure or acid erosion. Try using Sensodyne toothpaste or a similar toothpaste for sensitive teeth. After eating acidic foods try to wait 30 minutes before brushing your teeth as the acids soften the enamel and if your brush right away it causes the teeth to erode.

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Hi flossie, just wanted to let you know what happened when I went to a new dentist. He said the nerves were exposed in my front teeth due to teeth grinding and that id completely worn off the enamel. He showed me x-rays and gave excellent advice, nothing like my old dentist. Funnily enough the brown mark had nothing to do with the pain I was experiencing and so he buffed it off! He put a filling in the front tooth and I'm going to get a mouth guard for nights. Do you know much about teeth grinding? Thanks for your previous advice:)

Grinding is VERY common especially with the amount of stress people are under these days.
The night guard will protect your teeth for sure but you MUST wear it every night. I've been wearing one for 10+ years. I'm glad it was a simple fix for you!

Teeth grinding is most often done while we are sleeping. It's one of the ways our bodies deal with our stresses.

Yeah apparently it is. I am definitely getting a night guard but for the moment I'm wearing a tray from my teeth whitening which I hope will help in the meantime. I guess you would get used to wearing the tray every night.

Thanks again for advice:)

You will probably wear right through your whitening tray in no time at all since it is made of a weaker and more pliable material than a night guard is. The night guard will also protect your joints where the whitening tray doesn't.

Ok. Yeah I noticed that although there's no marks on the tray my jaw near my ear is still hurting. I read that putting a wet warm cloth around your jaw for awhille before sleeping can help relax the jaw. Have you tried anything else to help stop grinding?

I haven't tried this but yoga is supposed to work well. I think it's just a way to deal with your stress. You could try running, working out, swimming anything to help you relieve the stresses of the day. Anti inflammatories like Ibuprofen (Advil) work for short term relief.
Chiropractic and massage therapy can help too.

Ok that sounds good. That's funny because last week I went to yoga for the first time as there's a class near my home. It definitely is relaxing.

It's funny how the body KNOWS what you need, isn't it? :)