Teeth whitening kits can brighten even the greenest of mouths

TheraBreath is proud to unveil three new teeth whitening specialty products this month! First, there's the comprehensive yet cost-effective Dental Professional Whitening Kit, one of the best total care products now on the market. Then, for spot treating, you can also use our new Sensitivity Treatment Pen and Touch Up Whitening Pens, both of which can seal enamel, re-harden teeth and bleach away stains.

These products can help people with bad breath and whiten teeth of any shade - even green.

How does that happen?

Sure, teeth can grow yellow or even brownish due to poor oral health and bad habits, like smoking or excessive coffee-drinking. But green? Can teeth really turn a verdant hue? How can someone's pearly whites be made to fade to a shade of jade?

Several ways, actually.

First, you can drink lots of green-colored beverages. Green sodas would do, though dark green teas might be better. That's how Mao Zedong did it, anyway. The former communist dictator of China reportedly had bad breath and green teeth from an early age.

Even as a student, Zedong neglected to brush his teeth, opting instead to clean them with green tea, according to a biography by historian Whitney Stewart. By the time he had reached old age, the "Chairman" - who probably never ran across a single teeth whitening kit in his life - had a deeply green mouth, the BBC notes.

When asked by his personal physician why he preferred having fir-colored fangs, Zedong gave a laconic response: "A tiger never brushes his teeth."

But "cleaning" your mouth with green tea isn't the only way to get verdant chompers. Consider a new case report published in the New England Journal of Medicine, in which a 20-month-old boy was found to have astonishingly green teeth.

Bile is to blame

Doctors determined that his chompers had turned this color because he'd had severe jaundice as a newborn, caused by an infection. This condition had colored his teeth green while they were still inside his gums, forming enamel in a phase called amelogenesis.

The photos, which you can view for free, might have you turning green yourself, though not from envy.

Something tells us this child will need a case of teeth whitening trays and pens someday. After all, specialty whiteners can brighten even the mossiest of mouths.