White Stains On Your Teeth

Many patients find that their smiles are more yellow than they would like. Simply receiving an in-office teeth whitening treatment can help brighten up a patient’s smile. However, you may have to approach whitening differently if you have white spots on your teeth in specific places. Those white stains can be signs of hypomineralization, fluorosis, enamel hypoplasia and more. Although these are big words, your white stains can be fixed fairly easy with the right treatment.

Staining and Your Teeth

What you eat and drink will directly affect how your teeth look, feel and if they are susceptible to decay. Even if you don’t eat a lot of sugar (which creates tooth-decaying plaque), you may be staining your teeth by what you ingest. Foods that contain dyes and acidic materials can cause your teeth to stain. When you eat and drink, you can lose some of your enamel. This is especially true with carbonated drinks, as carbonation contains carbonic acid that erodes some of your tooth enamel. Citrus fruits and drinks also contain acids that erode your tooth enamel.

When your tooth enamel erodes, some of it is taken off, which creates cracks and fissures in the teeth. This can also happen when you eat too much sugar, as plaque made from sugar can decay some of your tooth enamel. That way, when you drink or eat something with dyes in it, it can cause your teeth to change colors. How well you care for your teeth can also determine if your teeth stain. If you don’t brush and floss often enough, your teeth will decay. As they do, more of the inner layers of your teeth will be exposed, which can cause your teeth to look yellow or gray. However, other problems can cause white stains on your teeth.

What Are Those White Stains?

There are several causes of white stains on your teeth, and it depends on your oral health and if you have been doing anything to your teeth. If you have white stains directly after using whitening products, then the white stains are probably a result of the whitening treatment being done unevenly.

You can get white spots from:

• How your teeth develop. If some sort of disruption happens when your teeth are developing, they can be whiter in some spots as they are forming because the mineral compounds will form together differently in some areas.
• Tooth Decay. When your teeth are in earlier stages of tooth decay, the bacteria that erodes your tooth enamel can dissolve the enamel, creating different white spots on your teeth. However, over time those white spots will turn into cavities.
• Fluorosis. When your teeth are forming, you may get too much fluoride, which can result in white stains on the teeth. Fluoride is great for making the teeth stronger, but too much can cause the mineral deposits that are those white, discolored spots.
• Demineralization/Oral Hygiene. When the teeth aren’t cared for properly, bacteria and plaque decalcify areas of the teeth. This is especially common with teens and children that wear braces.

White Stains with Orthodontics

Many people experience white stains on their teeth during their time with orthodontic appliances. This doesn’t seem to happen if a patient wears a transparent aligner, such as Invisalign. The problem happens when a patient has brackets and wires attached to their teeth. Many patients—especially children and teens—don’t brush and floss their teeth as much as they should, or they don’t do these hygiene habits correctly. Poor oral hygiene, especially right around a bracket cause cause white stains to form. If this is you, don’t panic. Dentists see patients with white stains all the time if they have had braces, and they can remove the stains.

Getting Rid of the Stains

If you have white spots on your teeth, don’t just try to take care of them on your own. At-home whitening treatments can be helpful for whitening your teeth, but they can also make white spots worse, especially when the cause is your oral health or a mineral problem. Your best bet is to work closely with a dentist to remove the white stains and whiten your teeth in-office. In the past, dentists would remove white spots on the teeth through microabrasion. This is when a dentist uses a machine that sprays crystal particles at your teeth at a very high speed to remove calcium buildup. However, studies show that microabrasion can also take off your tooth enamel and damage the teeth.

A dentist can remove white stains on the teeth through:

• Resin Infiltration System – This is a resin (similar to dental fillings) placed on the teeth and light-cured so the tooth can be lightened throughout to the same shade.
• Dental Pastes – Some dental pastes contain substances (such as CCP-ACP) that can help the teeth get the minerals back that they need. These must come from a dental professional. However, some gums can help your teeth to remineralize.
• Remineralization Therapy – A service that fills the holes that are in your teeth with the minerals your teeth need.
• Cosmetic Dentistry – Sometimes the white stains are severe enough, that getting porcelain veneers is the best option to cover the white spots.
• Teeth Whitening – In-office teeth whitening treatments can whiten specific areas of your teeth so that they match with the white spots on your teeth. In-office whitening is often the fastest way to whiten your teeth as well.

Dental Help

White stains on the teeth can last for years and even worsen without the help of a dentist. Dentists are the best-trained professionals to get rid of stains and spots on the teeth. Plus, if you receive cosmetic services from a dentist, they generally will work on your teeth until they are the way you want them. If you have white stains on your teeth and want to know why, call Stonebrook Family Dental today at (303) 872-7907!