[Marie]

I have a question about whether or not teeth whitening can turn teeth a grayish color. About five months ago I had my teeth whitened in a dentist office in Costa Rica. Before the whitening, my teeth were yellowish, with NO hint of a gray/blue color. I'm 53 so I had the usual stains from years of drinking coffee, etc. I'm not sure what exactly they used, but it was supposed to be some sort of laser. First they put the plastic "thing?!" in my mouth to hold it open and ready to apply the gel. Then the assistant used a hand held "laser" and held it near my teeth. Periodically she would put on more gel and hold the laser near my teeth again. This was done for close to an hour. They repeated the process about a week later because there had been very little improvement the first time...still not much whiter after the second time, so about two weeks later they did the process a third time. It seemed that after three treatments, I had a subtle improvement, but my teeth still were NOT grayish. I recently had bone grafts and dental implants done, and after that is when I started noticing the gray, slightly blue/green color. My bottom teeth also had brownish stains between the teeth. I'm wondering IF over whitening can cause this problem, if it would happen right away or if it's possible for it to be a gradual change. The only other thing I can think of is that maybe it had something to do with the gum surgery, but I don't see how. Please, any help you can give would be greatly appreciated! My teeth look horrible!~Marie

[Dr Pav Khaira]

It's very difficult to say exactly what has happened. Tooth whitening generally does not cause this type of problem, I would suggest you return to the dentist who did the whitening for a follow up consultation.

Red wine can cause this type of greying and you should have been informed not to drink red wine for a while.

I hope this helps

Kindest regards

[Marie]

Thank you for your reply, Dr. Khaira.
I'll go back to the dentist and see what they say. They did tell me to stay away from coffee, red wine, etc. for several days. I drank coffee using a straw and brushed my teeth afterwards. After a few days I drank red wine and brushed my teeth after that, too. In the past few months I've had red wine maybe three times a week, without brushing afterwards. I didn't think I still needed to. Is it unusual that only the top half of each tooth is gray and translucent? Is there any hope for gray teeth?
So in your opinion, doing a one hour laser whitening three times in three weeks is not over doing it?
Thanks again for your advice--It is very much appreciated! ~Marie

[Dr Pav Khaira]

I'm not a huge fan of "laser whitening". I generally find other methods more predictable. From what you have described I would say that it may be the red wine, or a condition called tetracycline staining. This antibiotic is sometimes given at a young age and can cause these types of discrepancies

I hope this helps