White Spots and Tooth Mousse

I have white spots on my teeth after getting braces as an adult. My dentist prescribed me some tooth mousse. It helped a bit. He’s thinking about finishing this up with teeth whitening. I just want to make sure I’m on the right path. I’ve waited so long to have straight teeth that I want to get to the point where I’m happy with everything about my smile.

Ben

Dear Ben,

Dental Bonding

I think your dentist started out with the right idea but then took a big curve to the left. Teeth whitening will whiten your teeth evenly. That means the white spots will whiten right along with the rest of your teeth.

The thing to focus on is the cause of the white spots to begin with. You said you had braces recently. That means your white spots are a result of decalcification. Those are precursors to decay. Your dentist’s idea of tooth mousse was a great one because it is designed to recalcify your teeth. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it helps. Sometimes it does nothing.

For you, it seemed to have helped but not solved the problem. Now you need plan B. At this point, the best thing to do is to have the white spots gently removed by microabrasion. Then, have the spots filled in with dental bonding. The composite used for that can be made to blend with your teeth completely. I gave an example of that with an image above. This person’s chipped tooth was repaired with dental bonding and looks perfectly natural.

I don’t think your dentist is up for this. It has to be done freehand and it takes a lot of expertise in cosmetic detnistry. Because your dentist doesn’t understand teeth whitening, which is the simplest of cosmetic procedures, I defintely don’t think he’ll have the skills to do your bonding. It’s okay to go to your dentist for general work and another one for cosmetic work. This is my recommendation to you.

This blog is brought to you by Baton Rouge Dentist Dr. Steven Collins.