How do you whiten teeth affected by tetracyclines?
Many of the patients who come to Clínica Peydro for teeth whitening do so after having been treated with an antibiotic called tetracycline. But what exactly are tetracyclines?
Tetracycline is an antibiotic that came into use in 1948, above all in pregnant women. A few years later it was discovered that this antibiotic could cross the placenta if a pregnant woman took it, which means it would also affect the baby developing inside her.
In 1963 the American Dental Association concluded that it caused permanent tooth staining in these children, leaving much of a generation with this small inconvenience.
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Why does this discoloration happen?
But why does tetracycline have this effect? It seems the antibiotic is able to bind to the calcium in tissue that is forming at that moment, whether teeth or bone. So tetracyclines have left us a generation of patients with very characteristic, striking tooth staining.
These are colors ranging from brown to the darkest gray. Patients sometimes have bands of different colors, as in the case of the patient we are presenting here. They are not physiological colors but “invented” ones, so any whitening case has to be approached with a strategy that is thoroughly protocol-driven and tailored to each particular color.
How can the visual effects of tetracycline be reduced?
The case we are presenting here is that of a woman with a dark tooth color —amber, orange, darker at the neck of the teeth and with slight bands of lighter color in the middle and incisal thirds. In cases where the color is this dark, when light hits the tooth it is not reflected but absorbed, so the smile looks dark.
The aim of the treatment is to clear the tooth of this internal staining so that light can reflect off it, giving the smile brightness, youth and beauty.
The whitening protocol consisted of 2 stages: one at the practice with very high concentration whitening products, and another at home with custom trays and medium concentration products. The final result speaks for itself. With completely conservative, non-invasive treatment we have rejuvenated the smile and given it maximum brightness.
Now you know how to whiten teeth affected by tetracyclines
