Weird staining pattern

[RoseDarko]

Hey guys, I tried searching the forum, but after several pages of results, couldn’t find an answer. I’ve had clear ceramic braces for just over 11 months now. I’ve been noticing some weird stains on my upper teeth...it’s almost an ombre-like effect. Above my brackets, my teeth are slightly yellowed, and look perfectly normal. Below my brackets, the tips of my teeth are varying shades of white, and kind of splotchy. It makes sense to me that the tips would be lighter than the gum line, since my brackets impede good saliva flow across my upper teeth. However, the splotchiness and uneven whiteness below my brackets are really weirding me out. Some additional info:

- My ortho says that I don’t have any white spot lesions, and that I don’t have any areas to “watch”.
- I go to the dentist every 6 months for a cleaning/check up; at my visit 4 weeks ago, my dentist said there were no areas of concern, and no signs of impending decay or white spots. Also - no signs of fluorosis.
- My dental hygienist said that my teeth were “spotless”, and there weren’t any hygiene concerns or areas to watch.
- I maintain a very thorough, very detailed hygiene routine at home, with Cocofloss string floss, a Waterpik, interdental brushes, a soft bristle manual toothbrush, a soft bristle Sonicare toothbrush, and a soft bristle Oral B electric toothbrush (I rotate between toothbrushes throughout the day, to get the benefits of each type). I also use Colgate Prevident 5000 Booster Plus and CariFree products (not simultaneously) as topical enamel treatments after flossing, brushing, and using mouthwash. For mouthwash, I use a peroxide-based Listerine rinse, as it really gets the nooks and crannies clean (under/around my ligatures, wire, etc.).
- I don’t let food sit on my teeth; if I can’t clean my teeth right away, I remove any trapped particles with a toothpick or interdental brush. I also drink almost everything through reusable straws!
- At every ortho visit (currently every 5-6 weeks), the chairside assistant applies fluoride varnish to my teeth, because I have severe acid reflux. This reversed some slight demineralization above my brackets during a bad bout of reflux.

Has anyone else experienced similar staining? Will it go away after my braces come off? Is there anything I can do right now to stop these weird stains? Does anyone have an explanation? I do have some sloppy cement around my brackets, and I can tolerate the stains that I know are from that...but these splotchy patches on “open” enamel are becoming bothersome to me! Sorry for the long post - I’m just starting to worry that I’ll have patchy teeth when my braces come off 😫

[bbsadmin]

Has your dental hygienist seen your teeth and the spots that you are describing? Could they be a buildup of tartar?

[RoseDarko]

[quote=bbsadmin post_id=508228 time=1575800818 user_id=2]
Has your dental hygienist seen your teeth and the spots that you are describing? Could they be a buildup of tartar?
[/quote]

My hygienist just saw them 4 weeks ago, and she said I didn’t have any tartar on the uppers. She also said that I had only 1 very small spot of tartar on a lower tooth, near the gum line (so not where the stains are occurring). I didn’t have any areas of buildup other than that one very small spot. My ortho and his assistant saw them about 10 days ago. So far, my hygienist, ortho, and ortho assistant all keep saying that everything looks healthy, and that my teeth are very clean, especially for someone with fixed braces. I know that some staining is normal, but the pattern of the staining is driving me crazy! I would rather have slightly yellowed teeth that look even, rather than the splotchiness on the bottom half of all my upper teeth 😑

[djspeece]

This is probably completely irrelevant, but do you think the light you are using when you look at your teeth may be playing a role? Do you see the staining in the ortho's office, or in natural light? Some light can really make one's teeth look different (and weird). Just an idea. We now return you to your regularly scheduled program.