Understand What White Spots On Your Teeth Mean
Everyone dreams of having pearly white teeth. Although black spots on teeth are distressful enough as it is, something that most of us would equally not settle for are white spots on teeth.
White sections on teeth can often be a very disturbing and unsightly view, as they not only mar the person's smile, but also his/her confidence. While most people might notice that they have white blots on their chompers right from the time their teeth began to erupt into the oral cavity, some people might have noticed the presence of these white spots only recently.
The timing of visibility (that is whether this discoloration was present at birth, or if it's cropped up only recently) greatly helps in diagnosing the condition. Given below are the answers to the questions like what causes oral white blots and how to get rid of them.
Fluorosis is by far the most common cause of white spots on teeth. Fluorosis is a condition where the amount of fluoride reaches such a high amount in the body, that it affects teeth and other parts of the skeletal system.
The main source of fluoride is drinking water, though normally occurs when the amount of fluoride in the water being consumed is more than 1ppm (parts per million). Dental fluorosis causes hypomineralization of the tooth enamel which leads to stains on teeth.
Though only the initial stages of fluorosis cause white blots on teeth, if fluoride ingestion levels are not brought under control, it can lead to skeletal fluorosis, which is a much more serious disease.
One of the most common causes of white spots in adults, or which have only recently appeared on teeth, is tooth decay. In the initial stages of dental caries, the lesion is a well demarcated, chalky-white opacity, without any loss of continuity of the enamel, that is the surface looks discolored as these spots on the teeth, but there is no breakage on the surface.
Enamel, though the hardest structure in the human body, is semi-porous in nature, and hence, there is increased permeability of enamel, and thus, susceptibility to caries. Such white spots on teeth mostly appear on the front teeth, near the inter-dental wall.
Dental plaque is a commonly mistaken as white spots on teeth. Dental plaque is the microfilm that is present on the surface of chompers.
Sometimes, there may also be food particles on the surface of the teeth that may be mistaken for white spots on teeth. Hence, always brush your teeth, or at least rinse them properly, before reaching a diagnosis of these spots.
A condition that seriously affects dental health, enamel hypoplasia is a condition where the tooth enamel is incompletely developed, that is, in thickness and in quality. It occurs due to defective enamel matrix formation during the development of teeth. It leads to white tooth blemishes, breakdown of occlusal surface and eventually the presence of other stains on your pearly whites.
Other causes of white spots on teeth include aggressive pin point brushing, excessive intake of sodas, especially when taken with a straw, as it leads to decalcification of the tooth structure in that region.
The treatment of white spots on teeth will depend on the disorder causing it. If the discoloration is due to fluorosis, then the person should immediately stop ingesting water containing high levels of fluoride, and switch to water which has less than or equal to 1ppm of fluoride.
Similarly, if there are such blots on any tooth due to incipient cavities or accumulation of plaque, then the person should get cleaning done, and should also get those teeth filled. In most of these cases, teeth bleaching is not a very good idea, as the discoloration on the tooth is already in the form of these white teeth spots, so it will not help to bleach the tooth.
Thus, white blemishes can be a bit disturbing and difficult to deal with. However, with some basic dental care, and depending on the disease present, the dentist will chalk out a treatment plan to best deal with this unsightly discoloration.
It is best to get a couple of different opinions before you settle on one course of treatment.
by: Jack Landry
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