Hi, first of all I would like to tell that there are staining of teeth is basically multifactorial. The causes of staining are divided into extrinsic and intrinsic stains. Intrinsic stains are usually caused by some diseases like blood diseases, inherited diseases while extrinsic stains are more common among the community. For your case, the reason of staining might NOT ONLY be coffee. It may be due to other food stains like tea, wine, curry, soft drink etc. Furthermore, some people are prone to stains naturally due to chromogenic bacteria. Well, basically these bacteria will only be present due to plaque accumulation. So you have to maintain your oral health by brushing your teeth twice a day and flossing daily. Also, I would suggest you to rinse your mouth after every meal.
How to reduce teeth staining:
1. Rinse your mouth after every meal
2. Use a straw to drink
3. Chewing gums are good sometimes but beware of the sugar contents
4. Brush your teeth twice daily with fluoridated toothpaste
5. Regular visit to your dentist (at least in 6 months interval)
For the treatment wise, there are plenty of ways to treat tooth staining.
1. Polishing of teeth (I suppose your dentist would have done it for you)
2. Bleaching gels (Effective but need long term follow up as well)
3. Fixing a porcelain veneer or crown (Porcelain is the best material as it does not stain BUT we need to excessively remove the tooth structure to fix the restoration and it is very costly)
Discuss with your dentist about your problems and he will evaluate your conditions and provide a suitable treatment for you.


Hi, it is advisable to do scaling during your orthodontic treatment. And for whitening, i would advice you to do it after you completed your treatment, this is because ( I assume you wearing the metal braces) if you do whitening, the teeth surface below the bracket will not expose to the the whitening treatment.

Gov clinic only have scaling for Rm2, but whitening have to go to private clinic

Hi, bleeding gums is a very common problem and even though there is no pain, it does not mean you should stop treating it!
Let me explain what is 'bleeding gums'. It is a sign of inflammation (A response from our body to protect us from infection or harmful stimulus) in your mouth. It is usually due to gum diseases which initiate from the bacteria in the plaque. Our body's defence tries to 'fight' with the bacteria and in the early stage, you will see just redness and probably mild swelling of your gums. If the plaque is not removed (by brushing/ scaling), the bacteria accumulates and infection becomes persistent, now the pain may gradually get worse. If it is still not resolved, the pain might be severe and simultaneously, you will have serious infection of your gums.
So, please do not ignore any sign that your body is telling. Visit a dentist as early as possible once you encounter any problems regarding oral health.

Thanks, please ask here if you have any doubt

Based on your info, i guess it is from 3rd molar/ wisdom teeth. People around this age usually have this kind of problem. The wisdom teeth is erupting, and it will be uncomfortable. If it is due to wisdom teeth, i will usually ask the patient to bear with the pain and let it erupt, the pain can be control by taking pain killer, and also to take care the oral hygiene by gargling with water after each meal. Note that there is a chance the tooth is tilted and no chance for it to erupt, if the tilted wisdom teeth giving pain, extraction is the only way.

Impacted 3rd molar


For bad breath, try
1) Brush your tongue
2) Avoid strong smell food, like garlic and onion
3) If your teeth have cavity, food may get stuck inside and hard to get out, hence the smell
4) Drink lot of water
5) Do flossing and interdental brushing, sometime food may get stuck in between teeth and its hard to get it out by brushing alone
6) Chew sugar-free gum ( temporarily measure )
7) Go for dental check up, maybe you have abscess that you didnt notice, or its time for you to do scaling. A thick calculus can often produce unpleasant smell

Hope this help


Interdental brush :

Do update here if you have any improvement

I think it was alright, congratulation on finally removed your braces, i know you feel. I wore my braces for 4 and half year, haha

Well, it depends on each individual's tooth eruption rate. For wisdom teeth, it varies from person to person. Some wisdom teeth might not fully erupt or covered by a layer of gum tissues.



Some might erupt in place or slightly tilted like the x-ray image I showed in the previous thread but some might not be out AT ALL. It may be due to many reasons like lack of space to erupt or the tooth beside prevents it from erupting.
So what you can do currently is to maintain the oral health by brushing properly, flossing and using mouthwash. If the pain is unbearable, take some painkiller and visit the dentist. There may be some infections underneath the gums or some diseases related to the tooth. And one more important thing is to rest well!

This post has been edited by AskTheDent: Sep 13 2014, 09:12 PM

Hi, sorry for late reply and glad to hear your plan relieve. BUT , i still want to prepare you for worst case. If you experiencing throbbing pain during sleeping, it means the infection has already gone into the bone. The best treatment is root canal treatment. But the pain can also be relieve with normal filling, with the chance of the pain coming back, so when the pain has come back, you know that this teeth is beyond normal filling, root canal treatment or extraction is the treatment.

Yeah, hopefully is ok...Do update here

Yeah, I already told him the worst case scenario so he know what to do when it is pain next time

Yeah, I already told him the worst case scenario so he know what to do when it is pain next time

Try this, is not so strong...but it is not easily find as listerine

No it wont cause your teeth to be shaking. Im a live example of your question

Yeah, whats wrong with that?

Electronic and manual is very subjective, i tried both and i still prefer the manual. I dont think there is any side effect of electronic tooth brush other than its more expensive

Should I use mouthwash?
Yes, using a mouthwash that contains fluoride can help prevent tooth decay and help get rid of any last bits of bacteria or leftover food that you might have missed with your toothbrush.

However, don't use mouthwash straight after brushing your teeth. Choose a separate time, such as after lunch. And don't eat or drink for 30 minutes after using a fluoride mouthwash.

Many mouthwashes contain alcohol, so they're not suitable for children, as they could swallow them accidentally. If you use a mouthwash with alcohol, you may get a very dry mouth and dry, cracked lips due to the drying effect of the alcohol. You can avoid this by using an alcohol-free version.

Some mouthwash contain chlorhexidine ( refer the reply by Dr.Barbarian below ) and it will stain the teeth

I quote from internet:
Chlorhexidine staining
'active ingredient of Chlorhexidine gluconate (CG for short). Now this stuff, has got a VERY good track record on treating active gum disease. What this stuff does is actually stick to your teeth, gums, tongue and inhibit bacteria. Its fancy scientific classification is… “ a cationic bisbiguanide.” The CG opens up bacterial cell walls and kills them, less bacteria in the mouth, less inflammation, less gum disease. Thats the basics of it.

However, there are side effects, these include discoluration of fillings and teeth, staining of your tongue, altered taste sensation, metallic taste and increased calculus/tartar formation. This is not a good thing.'

I used Colgate Plax and Listerine before, i prefer Colgate Plax because is cause no burning sensation. Listerine is too strong for me

Oh ya, now i recall back. Once i have a patient with chlorhexidine staining, but he finish the whole small bottle in a week. The chlorhexidine stain can be removed by scaling right.Anyway, thanks for tips doc

Yellowish due to tobacco and food stain usually can be whiten back by scaling, because the stain is superficial. But if the yellowish staining is due to thinning of teeth layer ( Our teeth have 2 layers, the outer layer is whiter, and inner layer is yellowish. As time goes by, the outer layer become thinner thus the teeth become more and more yellowish ), then it whitening cant be done by scaling.

In short, scaling can be helpful for stain that is superficial. Other than that, bleaching is the other option, but the effect is not permanent.


I asked one of my friend, in Jitra, Dr Yeoh doing. Whereas in Alor Setar, Klinik Selesa in Simpang Kuala and another clinic opposite Star Parade. Im not sure how is their work, only know they providing the service

Some is just congenital and genetic. If you notice, Indian society has a much whiter teeth, one of the reason is the contrast of their skin color to teeth, making it whiter. But if you just look at the teeth itself, it also appear whiter than other races. Thinning of teeth by by daily wear and tear, or acid attack in some individual.

Good to heard that, i have a few colegue also grad from Manipal, Salem and Chennai. You going for twinning or 5 years there? Must be quite excited ya...

All the best ya...Enjoy your stay in India

From the picture, your wisdom teeth is erupting. You either bear with the pain and let it grow , or you can choose to extract it. And the extraction is going to be a little bit complicated, so the dentist might have to charge you higher.

Have fun in India, i been there for 2 years. Initially you will be reluctant to go, but it is a beautiful place. Go to Goa and Pondycherry, my favorite place

Kedah/kelantan/terengganu is sunday to thursday 8 to 5, but thursday till 330
other state is 8 to 5, friday 1215 till 245 break

Nope, its never too late

Sorry, im not familiar with Setapak. I think the one charge more expensive is specialist, and cheaper one is general dentist who have attended courses on braces. Is very hard to tell whether the doctor is good or not just by looking at his/her qualification paper. Even braces has many types, and we dont know which one they following. The best will be feedback from his previous patient

Government didnt go crown. Zirconia is much stronger with ceramic, and the color is more natural. The price is usually 1k above.