My 13 year old just got her braces off and two of the teeth have splotches on them which make them two different colors. Is there a treatment for this and will dental insurance cover it?
Mary
Dear Mary,
When teeth are splotchy after braces, it usually means those are decalcification spots. These are precursors to decay. This is the result of them not brushing thoroughly enough around all those metal wires and brackets. That can be tricky with braces.
Whenever possible, I recommend patients get Invisalign instead of traditional braces because it makes taking care of their teeth so much easier. You simply remove the aligner, brush and floss as you normally would, then put the aligners back in. However, that is water under the bridge.
The typical treatment for this is to have the decalcification spots removed with some gentle “sanding” and then replace the missing structure with dental bonding.
One word of caution here. Not every dentist can do dental bonding well. It is a cosmetic procedure which has to be done freehand. Make certain that you ask to see some photographic samples of their work showing before and after pictures of dental bonding to ensure that they do beautiful work. They should have a smile gallery which has pictures like that. If a dentist does not have a smile gallery, that means they don’t do much cosmetic work. I would look for someone else.
As for dental insurance covering this, I would not expect coverage as much as help. They may pay a small portion.
This blog is brought to you by Baton Rouge Dentist Dr. Steven Collins.