Amidst the busy days of running errands, playing dress up, and making sure your child is as healthy as one can be, you notice a tooth in your child’s mouth is turning black. Black?! Immediately, thoughts of worry and panic take over.

This brings us here: What do I do if my child’s baby teeth turn black?

Before we discuss treatment, let’s find out some common reasons of why baby teeth can turn black:

Tooth Injury

Accidents happen and children of all ages are very prone to a bump or scratch here and there. The effect of an injury to the tooth can cause it to blacken, or turn to a gray or purple hue. Think of this as a “tooth bruise”, just as if you’d get a bruise on your elbow or knee. In most cases, the tooth with heal itself and the darkness will lighten; however, it may take some time. Baby teeth can take several months to lighten, ranging anywhere from 2 weeks to 6 months.

Tooth Decay

Unfortunately, this is a common disease among young children and can be traced all the way back from bottle feeding. In our everyday diet, we consume an innumerable amount of sugar and acidic foods. These types of food can be extremely detrimental to your child’s oral health and should be avoided or consumed in moderation while practicing good oral hygiene habits.

Excessive Fluoride

This may be a tad surprising because, as parents, we are often told that fluoride is an absolute necessity for our growing children. And, studies show, this is 100% the truth! However, what they forget to mention is: fluoride should be added to our diets in moderation. Studies have shown that excessive fluoride use and overuse of certain medications or vitamins can cause dark teeth.

Now that we’ve explored some common reasons of why baby teeth can turn black, we have a better idea of how to handle certain situations!

So, the next step.

Depending on why your child’s baby teeth turned black, you can now make the decision on how to handle this circumstance. As a parent, trust your judgement! If your baby is in pain, you see signs of infection, or worsened symptoms, call your local pediatric dentist office to schedule an appointment with your dentist. This way, the condition can be monitored and they can assist you with options of treatment. In most cases, darkening caused by trauma can self-heal, but more extensive cases, such as tooth decay, need to be treated by a professional health care provider.

All in all, the darkening of teeth isn’t something to cause a huge panic over, rather, visit your local Raleigh dentist for a consultation and treatment options.