What is it that turns my teeth black?
Q WHAT causes teeth to turn black? I have black stains on my inner bottom teeth that no amount of brushing will remove?
A BLACK stains on the inner bottom teeth that you can’t remove are probably due to a combination of discolouration from foods and also a build-up of plaque and tartar.
The enamel, which is the outer layer of a tooth, can be stained by smoking and food and drink such as coffee, red wine, cola and curries.
Plaque is a build-up of bacteria that forms from saliva, food and drinks and collects on the base of teeth where they meet the gums.
A build-up of plaque can trap stains and it begins to form within hours of brushing your teeth. If you are really careful to clean your teeth thoroughly twice a day then you should be able to remove plaque.
However if you don’t get rid of it all it can harden into tartar, which looks yellow or brown. Not only does plaque and tartar look unsightly but the bacteria it contains can lead to inflammation of the gums, infection around teeth and eventually tooth loss.
Tartar sticks firmly to tooth enamel and can only be removed by a dentist or dental hygienist, so you should make an appointment as soon as possible.
Once you have had the tartar removed it can be helpful to use plaque-staining sticks regularly before you clean your teeth.
As their name suggests these stain plaque a bright colour and can be very useful in showing where you need to do some additional brushing.
Q CAN cracking your joints lead to arthritis?
A CRACKING your joints – usually the knuckles – is something many people do, sometimes out of habit or as a way of releasing tension.
The exact cause of the noise isn’t known but it’s probably produced by increasing the space between the bones of the finger joints which causes gas bubbles in the joint fluid to either collapse or burst.
The reason you can’t crack the same knuckle again straight away is that it then takes some time for the gas bubbles to reaccumulate in the joint.
Although there have been occasional reports of joints being dislocated or tendon injuries occurring from knuckle cracking, it’s otherwise probably harmless.
Studies have been done looking at X-rays of people who cracked the knuckles of one hand and not the other over many years and no significant
differences were seen in the bones, so much as you may want to stop someone cracking their joints you can’t tell them it will cause arthritis.
Q MY partner is 65 and suffers from a very sharp pain in his right shoulder. Sometimes it is so painful he struggles to get his arm into his jacket. He doesn’t recall injuring it so what could it be?
A THE shoulder joint is quite complex as it is where three bones meet: the collar bone (the clavicle), the shoulder blade (scapula) and the upper bone of the arm (the humerus).
Around them are a number of ligaments, tendons and muscles. This means there is a wide range of problems that can cause pain in the shoulder.
One of the most common is tears or calcium deposits in the tendons around the top of the humerus, known as the rotator cuff, which can cause sudden pain when you lift the arm above
shoulder level, for example when brushing your hair or putting on a jumper.
Although rotator cuff disorders may be caused by injury, they can also occur without an obvious cause. Shoulder pain can also be due to arthritis within the joint or a neck problem causing pain in the muscles in the top of the shoulder.
The best way to get shoulder problems sorted out is usually to see a physiotherapist, which can be arranged by your GP.
If you have a health question for Dr Rosemary please write to her in confidence at The Northern & Shell Building, 10 Lower Thames Street, London EC3R 6EN or email health@express.co.uk.
Dr Rosemary’s reply will appear in this column. She regrets that she cannot enter into personal correspondence and that due to the volume of letters she cannot reply to everyone. Find out more about Dr Rosemary at drrosemaryleonard.co.uk
READERS RESPOND
I WOULD like to respond to the 85-year-old woman in your column (May 22) who complained of feeling tired and heavy when walking. I notice that she also stated that she has high cholesterol and wondered if she has been prescribed statins for this condition.
I too suddenly developed these exact symptoms and discovered that they coincided with my taking this medication.
Following discussion with my doctor, the statin was changed and the dosage reduced and I’m happy to say those debilitating symptoms have gone and I am back to my previous level of health and fitness.
Y Nicholls, by email