Are My Child’s White Tooth Spots Removable?
When your child smiles, you can’t help but notice that there are small white spots on their teeth. Depending on what their dental history is, there are a few explanations. Fortunately, our Hudsonville pediatric dentist can use a procedure called ICON® resin infiltration to remove these .
Here’s what you need to know about the causes behind those pesky white spots and how the ICON treatment can help.
How White Spot Lesions Can Occur
If your child is young, can indicate early decay, an overexposure to fluoride, or natural defects in the enamel. Now, we understand that it’s not exactly comforting to hear that your child can develop cavities if these spots aren’t treated. However, you can catch them before they worsen.
The early tooth decay will first show up as a chalky, pale color along your child’s gumline. As time goes on, the spots will turn brown or yellow, but they are still reversible at this stage.
You’ll need to bring them in to see our pediatric dentist who will clean off any plaque or tartar during a professional teeth cleaning. Routine oral care at home can also prevent the formation of cavities. Just be sure to use fluoride responsibly with your child so their teeth don’t receive too much of a good thing – and more white spots.
Noticeable enamel bruising is also a possibility during and after your child’s orthodontic treatment. This is because fixed brackets and wires complicate the role that natural saliva plays in the mouth. Also, they make tooth brushing and cleaning underneath more difficult.
Lack of adequate oral hygiene then leads to a film forming on the areas adjacent to the brackets or wires and acid produced by the bacteria in the film attacks the tooth structure. Allowing this to happen without proper cleaning causes subsurface enamel demineralization and density loss. In other words, white spot lesions.
What Is ICON Resin Infiltration?
The ICON procedure might sound intimidating to parents, but it’s actually minimally invasive and only requires one visit to our Hudsonville pediatric dental office. We also don’t use any drills or local anesthetic injections!
In a nutshell, ICON involves our pediatric dentist etching the outer layer of your child’s enamel and applying a solution designed to soak in and fill the porous white spot. It is important to understand that ICON resin infiltration is not permanent and affected teeth will need a touch-up after a few years.
What to Expect for Your Child’s Procedure
We’ll start by thoroughly cleaning any plaque or tartar on your child’s tooth (or teeth) receiving treatment. Next, our pediatric dentist will use a special wedge to separate the tooth being worked on from surrounding teeth.
An etching solution is used to remove the outer layer of enamel and the white spots are dried out with a drying agent. The ICON resin infiltration solution is applied by our pediatric dentist which fills in pores and improves the overall look of your child’s tooth. Finally, we get rid of any excess resin, cure the tooth, and polish.
Make an Appointment Today
Help improve your child’s smile and get rid of white tooth spots with ICON treatment! By using this method, our pediatric dentist in Hudsonville, MI, can leave more natural tooth structure intact compared to traditional drilling and filling. Call Hudsonville Dental Kids today at (616) 209-4039 to schedule an appointment.
