This is an account of one of the odder things that has happened to me as a vaper: my front teeth turned brown, and the cause appeared to be a single e-liquid. I never worked out exactly why it happened or how to stop it, so what follows is my experience and the steps I took to narrow it down, not an explanation.
The e-liquid involved
I was going through a peach phase, buying any peach fruit or candy liquid I came across in search of the most true-to-life version. That is how I found Peach Gummies from a brand called Pop. It tasted remarkably close to the actual candy, sweet fruit with a smooth candy finish, and I was hooked. I refilled with it again and again, which is unusual for me. Normally I get bored of a flavor quickly and move on to something else.
Noticing the stain
I was in the middle of yet another refill when a friend came over and said my teeth looked strange. I asked what he meant, and he said they looked stained dark brown, close to black. I went straight to a bathroom mirror and he was right. Rubbing with a paper towel took part of it off, but my two front teeth stayed marked. It took a proper brushing before the color was gone completely.
Once that was dealt with, I tried to retrace my day. I had not eaten curry or tomato sauce, and I had not had grape juice, so food seemed unlikely. I was not wearing anything dark that might have rubbed off on my teeth. That left my vape. Since nothing like this had happened to me before, there were three things to check: the liquid, the coil, and how I was vaping.
Checking the liquid
I use a lot of e-juice in a day and I am not loyal to any one brand. I do not even finish a bottle before opening the next, so there are usually about 3 or 4 open bottles in my purse. When I went through them, every one was a liquid I had vaped before without any trouble, with a single exception. Peach Gummies was the new arrival, and it was also the first Pop flavor I had ever bought.
So I ran a simple test. I rinsed the tank, confirmed in the mirror that my teeth were clean, and refilled with the same peach liquid. Within a few hours the brown stain had returned. I did not want to give up a flavor I liked that much, so before deciding anything I looked at the coil.
Checking the coil
Plenty of vapers keep a coil going long after it should have been replaced. Some are trying to save money, some are rationing the coils they have left, and some just have not noticed that the taste has faded. Coils get used for weeks this way, occasionally for months. The cotton inside goes black and crusty, and the result is dry hits or weak flavor.
I am guilty of this too, so an old coil seemed like a reasonable suspect. When I pulled mine out it was not black or crusty, but it was due for a change. I fitted a new one, went on vaping Peach Gummies, and assumed the problem was solved. My theory was that tiny dark particles from the worn coil had been carried in the vapor and had settled on my teeth.
A few days later the staining came back. My front teeth were brown again, and it showed every time I smiled or laughed. With a fresh coil in place, the old coil could not be the cause. However good it tasted, I decided I had to stop using that liquid.
Other things I considered
I kept looking for a reason my teeth would react to this one liquid and no other. These were the ideas I went through:
- Enamel: perhaps my tooth enamel was damaged and was picking up color more easily.
- Whitening strips: I had used them a few months earlier and wondered whether they had left my teeth more prone to staining.
- A bad batch: maybe only that bottle was affected. I waited a few months and ordered the same flavor from a different website to find out.
None of these gave me an answer. Each time, the trail led back to the same flavor, and in the end I accepted that Peach Gummies and my teeth do not get along.
Where that leaves me
E-liquid is made in nearly every flavor you can think of. The familiar ones are fruit, dessert and tobacco, and there are strange ones too, including black pepper, beer, energy drink and even hot dog. Out of all of that, one of the nicest peach liquids I have tasted happened to be the one that discolored my teeth. I searched a few vape forums afterwards and found other people reporting staining and discoloration from certain e-liquids, though the posts do not always name the product.
I want to be clear that I am not criticizing Pop or calling the product inferior. I liked this juice a great deal, and I am only describing what happened to me. I do not know the cause, and I do not know how to prevent it. I will never get around to trying every vape juice on the market, but Peach Gummies by Pop is one I know I will not be going back to.