During my previous visit to the dentist, the dental hygienist said that my teeth had a lot of plaque, so I decided to put a real effort into caring for my teeth. I brushed after every meal, flossed once or twice a day, and started rising with Crest Pro-Health mouthwash.
After a couple weeks, I noticed that my teeth were stained worse than ever – dark brown stains particularly near the gum line. When I smiled, my daughter said that it looked as though I had algae growing on my teeth.
I assumed it was from the harsh cleaning I had received at the dentist office. I thought maybe the hygienist had scrubbed off a protective layer and that the first few cups of coffee I had after that cleaning had somehow soaked into my porous teeth.
Today, I visited the dentist for my six-month checkup. She looked at my teeth and noted how stained they were. She said, “You’re not a smoker, are you?” I told her no, I’m not a smoker.
The hygienist did her cleaning. She needed a special high-powered water pick to blast the stain off. She couldn’t finish. She scheduled me for another appointment.
I explained how discouraged I was. Here I was trying my best to care for my teeth, and this was the worst staining I’ve had in my entire life. How could that be possible?
The hygienist asked if I brushed with Crest Pro-Health. I said no, I don’t brush with it but I do use Crest Pro-Health mouthwash at least once a day and sometimes twice. I asked her why? She explained that Crest Pro-Health toothpaste uses stannous fluoride, which can stain some people’s teeth. She said she didn’t think the mouthwash had stannous fluoride. (I checked the label when I got home – no stannous fluoride. Sure enough, the toothpaste tube does have a warning “products containing stannous fluoride may produce surface staining of the teeth.” No such warning appears on the mouthwash bottle.)
When I got home, I Googled “crest pro health mouthwash stains teeth.” The entire first page of results contained links to articles and blog posts from people who reported that Crest Pro-Health mouthwash stained their teeth a dark brown soon after they began using it.
This really irritates me. I was using a product I thought would make my teeth healthier and whiter and make my gums stronger. Instead, it made my smile look like I was a two-pack a day smoker.
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So what you’re saying is that all of those other products that supposedly keep my teeth healthy but don’t stain my teeth don’t work? I don’t think so. What I’m saying is that I’ll stick with products that keep my teeth healthy and don’t stain my teeth.
WOW ….me too ….coffee drinker for thirty years quit smoking ten years ago ….NEVER had stains this bad…my wife is embarrassed to look at my smile……switched dentists and the new dentist made a rather derogatory comment about my tooth care….now to find out it’s the mouthwash….I am also upset that Walgreens, Sam’s Club and other retailers don’t either quit selling it or warn customers. Prior to seeing this site …I saw discussions of this problem going back THREE YEARS!!!
Thanks for having this information available. It helped me zero in on my brown staining between my teeth earlier than later. However, I was not using the mouth-wash, I was using the Oral-B Glide “Pro-Health” Multi-Protection Floss. Within two months of using the floss, I stopped using it. I had to get my teeth cleaned and now they are back to normal. I went back to using the Johnson&Johnson Reach, mint waxed with no brown staining after 4 months. I did submit a completed form to Proctor & Gamble for reimbursement, but my claim was denied.
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