I’ve had white spots on my teeth since childhood. My dentist assures me that my teeth are healthy and I have nothing to worry about. Truthfully, though, the spots make me self-conscious when I smile. I spoke to my dentist about it and she just said, “I should stop worrying. There’s nothing to fix.” But, to me the appearance needs to be fixed. I’ve been doing some online reading about cosmetic dentistry and I’m trying to decide between Zoom Whitening and Porcelain Veneers. Zoom is cheaper, so I’m leaning that way, but don’t feel I can ask my dentist’s advice on this. Any wisdom for me?
Olivia
Dear Olivia,
While I am certain your dentist has good intentions, she is one of those engineer minded dentists who went into the field because they like to fix things. In her mind, there is nothing to “fix” about your teeth– No cavities, no breaks, no infections– therefore why should you mess with it. Appearance related (cosmetic) dentistry carries no interest for her.
But, if it bothers you, it matters. I think you are correct that you will not be able to go to this dentist to fix this issue. That’s okay. Many patients have one dentist for their general care and another for cosmetic work. If you are otherwise happy with her, you can go that route.
Fixing These White Spots
For the sake of others reading this I am going to mention that there are two types of white spots. Some, like yours, are not an indication anything is wrong. they’re just there. However, another type of white spots are decalcification spots or precursors to decay. You often see these after patients have been in braces for a while. It’s hard to really get the areas clean around all those metal wires and brackets. In this case, there is something wrong and the decalcification areas need to be dealt with.
That’s not what you have going on, so let’s go over those two procedures you mentioned.
With Zoom Whitening, as well as any type of legitimate whitening procedure, they will whiten your teeth evenly. So, while your teeth will whiten, so will the white spots. That is not the result you are looking for.
Porcelain veneers will cover them, but it is a major investment. They are typically used for a complete smile makeover. If you have other things you want to change about your teeth, like their shape or size, this will be a good way to do it. However, if your spots are in a relatively small surface area, you may prefer just to have some dental bonding done only on the area that needs it.
Whichever you choose, you will need a good cosmetic dentist to do it.
This blog is brought to you by Libertyville Dentist Dr. David Potts.