Why do I have a brown spot on my tooth?

Brown spots on the teeth are often the result of poor oral hygiene, smoking, or consuming many dark foods and drinks. Spots on the outside of the tooth can often be removed and are easy to prevent. Rarely, brown spots on the teeth signal a medical condition. Or, they may be side effects of medication.

How do you know if a spot is a cavity?

Dark Spots On Your Tooth When a cavity has not been treated for a long interval of time, it is easy to see. It will look like a dark spot has formed on the infected tooth. If your tooth is discolored you might have a cavity. A dark spot appears on your tooth before holes form on your tooth.

What does cavity look like on tooth?

Cavities vary greatly in appearance. In general, however, they appear as small holes, chips or dark spots on teeth. The holes can be as small as dots or as large as the entire tooth. Sometimes they look brown, yellow or black.

Is decay a cavity?

No, tooth decay is not the same as a cavity. However, tooth decay can cause cavities. Tooth decay, or also referred to as dental caries, start as plaque, the sticky film that builds up on your teeth.

What does a filled cavity look like?

They may be looking for confirmation that a cavity exists in one or more teeth. Typically, a cavity shows up on an X-ray as a darker spot or a shadow on a tooth. Meanwhile, a typical filling shows up as a much brighter spot on the tooth.

Do dark spots on teeth always mean cavities?

Although dark spots do not always indicate a cavity—they may just be surface stains—you have no real way of knowing. If you spy a black or brown spot on a tooth, your first course of action should be to schedule an appointment with a dentist.

What color is a cavity filling?

Teeth can be filled with gold; porcelain; silver amalgam (which consists of mercury mixed with silver, tin, zinc, and copper); or tooth-colored, plastic, and materials called composite resin fillings.