Yellowish Teeth

[paradise2004]

My mom told me earlier this week that by following a gluten-free diet, teeth are known to turn yellow. And I noticied that my teeth are kind of yellow, which is a bit disgusting I guess. Has anyone else noticied this? Are there any methods you all use to prevent this? Thanks.

[tarnalberry]

There is nothing magic about wheat that keeps your teeth from yellowing. Most teeth are NOT naturally _white_ anyway - the level of yellow varies from person to person naturally - and various foods (particularly coffee and tea) can stain your enamel. But no, eating gluten-free doesn't mean you'll get yellow teeth.

[plantime]

My teeth have been yellow all my life, eating gluten-free had nothing to do with it. Someday, I will have them all pulled, and have the sparkling whitest dentures a person ever saw!

[Thomas]

I agree that wheat doesn't whiten.

[Maggie1956]

I've had yellow teeth all my life too. I'm almost 49 now and I've been gluten-free for only a month and a half.

Yeah, i agree that we are pre-disposed to teeth and enamel problems due to not having good nutrition.

I'm hoping to get my teeth whitened by the dentist.

[gf4life]

I have never heard of the gluten-free diet being the cause of yellow teeth. I have heard of celiac being linked to dental enamel defects. All 4 of us in my family that are gluten-free have "bad" teeth. Mine have been yellow since my permanent teeth came in, and my two older boys both have yellow permanent teeth. We will see with my daughter. She has horribly rotten baby teeth, but just lost her first tooth. Maybe her permanent teeth won't come out yellow, since she is on the diet. Or maybe it is just wishful thinking. I can't use tooth whiteners since I have a crown on one of my front teeth that perfectly matches the yellowed color of my teeth. If I whitened the others, then it would stand out. Not to mention that whiteners are hard on the enamel and I have weak enamel anyhow.

Our dentist was getting frustrated with all the cavities and root canals he was dealing with on my 4 year old last year. When I mentioned the gluten intolerance/celiac that we were testing for, I swear it was like you could see the light bulb go off over his head. He agreed that the tooth decay was consistent with a genetic abnormality like gluten intolerance. He has been more understanding since. He was sure that I was feeding my kids sugar 24 hours a day and never having them brush!! Now he knows that it is caused by something that we can't help. We still do our best to keep our teeth as clean as possible, but the kids are still getting cavities and the enamel is totally gone on some of their teeth.

I'm with Dessa. I won't mind when I need to get dentures! They will be much nicer than my real teeth! If I wasn't in my early 30's I would do it now, but it just seems weird for someone so young. I know that my cousin (who is the same age as my parents) had all her teeth pulled in her 30's and got dentures. You couldn't tell, but it is the few weeks of no teeth at all that might be hard to deal with. See they pull all your teeth, then have to let the gums heal before they can fit you for the dentures. Then they have to custom make the dentures to fit your mouth, and they whole time you are toothless! That is what is keeping me from doing it now.