Do you have noticeable white spots on your teeth that take away from your otherwise beautiful smile? The good news is, these splotches aren’t typically a serious cause for concern, and your cosmetic dentist offers dental fluorosis treatment to help get rid of them. Read on to learn how the process works and what you can do to prevent this issue from occurring.
What Causes White Spots on Teeth?
These white spots on your teeth have several causes. They typically appear when people are younger if they consume excessive amounts of fluoride as a child and are referred to as dental fluorosis. Although they’re undesirable, they’re usually harmless and begin forming before the teeth even grow in. The other cause of this condition is enamel hypoplasia, which occurs when the enamel on teeth doesn’t form properly. Like dental fluorosis, hypoplasia also forms while children’s teeth are still developing. However, the difference is that this condition can put you at a higher risk of experiencing oral health problems like cavities.
The white spots can also result from poor oral hygiene, especially if you have oral appliances like braces or eat excessive amounts of acidic and sugary foods. Luckily, your cosmetic dentist offers different treatments to help improve the look of your smile.
ICON Resin Infiltration
Icon offers a revolutionary approach to the cosmetic treatment of white spot lesions. Painless and drill free! White spots on teeth are most commonly associated with post orthodontic treatment or congenital malformations in the tooth leading to areas of demineralization and hypocalcification. With one simple procedure and without unnecessary loss of healthy tooth structure, these spots can literally disappear in less than a 60 minute office visit.
Benefits
- Much less invasive and less expensive than the alternatives of fillings or veneers
- Can be done sooner than other cosmetic options like veneers that you have to wait until growth is complete
- Untreated white spots often look worse after bleaching. White spots treated with Icon will whiten similarly to the natural tooth enamel.
How does ICON resin infiltration work?
- The surface area of the lesion is pumiced clean and treated with a 15% HCl gel. This opens the pore system of the lesion body.
- The pore system is then dried with ethanol.
- ICON is then applied with a brush onto the lesion body. The extremely high penetration coefficient of the Icon resin enables it to penetrate into the lesion pores.
- Excess material is then removed and the material is light cured.
- Final polishing and finishing is then completed with disks.
Does it really work? Does it last?
Research shows stability for at least 8 weeks.
Think of it compared it to people who whiten their teeth – the teeth look so much better, but they do occasionally have to bleach again for maintenance. That being said, we have seen our patients with results lasting much longer!