Many parents sooner or later wonder why a child has white spots on milk teeth. This phenomenon can be observed for many reasons, so it is important to see a doctor as soon as possible to identify them and then prescribe effective treatment.
If the problem is not related to the pathological process and is just an aesthetic defect, you can deal with it by following the recommendations of the dentist at home. When the situation is neglected, it is impossible to avoid serious dental intervention in the clinic using a drill and filling cavities.
It is better to prevent the occurrence of pigmentation because the problem is much easier to prevent than to treat. Experts have developed a set of recommendations that help prevent the appearance of whitish spots.
Types of spots in a child
Formations on the tooth surface are divided by shade, size, and shape. In the first case, this is a division by color into whitish, brown, black, yellow, etc.
There is also an etiological classification for White spots on milk teeth. All pigments uncharacteristic of healthy enamel are combined into 2 large groups:
- Carious (associated with a pathological violation of the integrity of hard tissues);
- Non-carious.
White spots on milk teeth in an infant and an older baby
This is an alarming symptom that requires urgent consultation with a pediatric dentist. Some parents mistakenly believe that there is no need to treat the first teeth because they will soon fall out and be replaced by permanent ones. This is a misconception that can cost your oral health.
White areas indicate their demineralization. If urgent measures are not taken, the unit may simply fall out or break into several fragments. As a result, the rudiments of new incisors, canines, and molars are damaged. You cannot deal with this on your own. For treatment, a therapeutic tactic is developed together with an experienced specialist in the field of pediatric dentistry.
White spots on molars
This phenomenon is much less common than in the case of dairy rows. Often the process is observed when installing a bracket system. The problem provokes an unbalanced irregular diet, insufficient consumption of fresh vegetables and fruits, and milk. If this is indeed the root cause, it is enough to change the diet or reinstall the corrective orthodontic construction.
In adolescence, whitened areas often indicate the onset of caries. If you contact the dental clinic in a timely manner, you will not need to drill the affected tissues and seal and clean the canals after the forced removal of the nerve.
Causes of white spots on the teeth of a child
The problem can arise due to many factors. The most common of them:
- Hypoplasia. This is a strong thinning, the partial or complete absence of enamel.
- Caries. The natural result of poor-quality care and untimely access to the dentist for preventive purposes.
- Fluorosis. This term refers to the excess concentration of fluoride in the child’s body.
- Wearing orthodontic structures. Hygiene is difficult, so carious lesions often occur.
- Injury (including dairy rows).
- Fall of immune protection, frequent colds, viral infections.
- Failure to comply with simple hygiene requirements.
It is necessary to dwell on each of the causes of white spots on the teeth of infants and children of an older age category.
Enamel hypoplasia
This is a congenital non-carious pathology of dental units when a complete or partial absence of the enamel layer is diagnosed. The appearance of incisors, canines, and molars changes significantly. Not only do whitish areas appear on them, but also furrows and depressions.
The disease is associated with the wrong structure of hard tissues. It is often accompanied by carious lesions, and hypersensitivity to hot and cold food, sours, and sweets.
The anomaly arises during the period of intrauterine development or under the influence of external factors. Most often, the problem provokes:
- Rhesus conflict between mother and fetus;
- Infections carried by a pregnant woman;
- Late preeclampsia, premature delivery, birth trauma;
- Malnutrition of the expectant mother, taking prohibited medications;
- Traumatic impact on the maxillofacial region of the baby;
- Endocrine disorders;
- Diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, nervous and urinary systems.
Caries
If white spots appear on a child’s teeth, mom and dad most often do not even suspect the presence of carious lesions. The sooner a problem is diagnosed, the faster and easier it will be solved. Drilling with a drill can often be avoided in the earliest stages, which is extremely important when treating young patients. In this case, remineralization or fluoridation is used.
If you do not intervene in time, the enamel will become even thinner, and softer and begin to collapse. You can feel the rough surface to the touch.
The spots remain whitish for a short time, they darken. At the same time, infectious agents penetrate into the deepest layers of the crown and the root part, causing more serious dental diseases that are difficult to treat.
Too much or too little fluoride
An excess concentration of a substance in the body is called fluorosis. It gets to a small person with drinking (in some regions, excessively fluoridated water flows in the water pipe), food (with seafood), pasta, medicines, and polluted industrial air.
Growing dentures are most susceptible to damage, so the problem is more often detected in children. Children with weak immunity and chronic pathologies are especially vulnerable.
Not only an excess but also a deficiency of fluorine can provoke a number of dental disorders. Low fluoride levels lead to tooth decay and gum disease.
Braces and the consequences of wearing structures
White spots on milk teeth (molars) in a child (photo can be found on the Internet) are also observed when installing orthodontic appliances. This is primarily due to insufficient hygienic care for the oral cavity. In children wearing braces, a layer of plaque accumulates, and the enamel may lighten.
During the correction period, it is important to take good care of the incisors, canines, and molars. It is worth brushing them at least 2 times a day, morning and evening. You need to give up sweets, confectionery, and sour. All this leads to pigmentation.
Injuries
Any mechanical impact threatens to damage the enamel, because this layer is naturally quite thin and fragile, especially in young patients. Whitish spots appear on damaged areas as a response to injury.
In modern dentistry, cases are known when bumps and falls in childhood led to the manifestation of light pigments in adulthood on permanent units.
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Damaged rows not only look unattractive but can also collapse.
Weakened immunity
Numerous medical studies have shown that children, who are most susceptible to colds and viral infections, suffer from mineral deficiencies and inadequate immune defenses. As a result, white spots (stripes, chalky zones) form on the teeth of a one-year-old child.
Special pastes and alternative therapy, of course, can help in the initial stages. However, first of all, it is recommended to visit a dentist to identify the causes of the symptom and prescribe an effective complex treatment.
Abuse of bleaching products and procedures
In patients who abuse such manipulations and use whitening formulations on an ongoing basis, certain areas of the enamel often lighten. It does not matter who performs the procedure, a professional dentist at a great price, or a loving parent at home.
Such incisors, canines, and molars look unaesthetic. For this reason, most doctors note the need for subsequent remineralization. With its help, you can not only make the dentition aesthetically attractive but also strengthen the enamel.
Poor hygiene
The fact that poor-quality care leads to a lot of dental problems is known even to the smallest patients. Children wearing braces are especially affected by this.
As soon as the baby’s first central incisor erupts, you can buy a special fingertip brush and brush your teeth 2 times a day. However, even if it is still very far from the eruption, it is still necessary to take care of the oral cavity. To do this, you can wipe the gums with a piece of gauze or a clean cotton cloth soaked in boiled water or herbal decoction.
Is it possible to fix the problem at home?
Therapeutic tactics depend on the causes of the onset of the disease. If the problem is inappropriate water, it is enough to replace it with bottled water or install special filters in the house that removes fluoride from the liquid. The same applies to toothpaste and medicines. Avoid fluoride.
When a child has grown teeth with white spots, you need to introduce foods rich in calcium and vitamins into his diet. For example, it is worth eating more vegetables, and cheese, and drinking milk.
Often the provoking factor is insufficient oral hygiene. Parents should teach their sons or daughter how to properly carry out hygiene procedures. Any available and effective teaching methods will do. Currently, there are many educational cartoons and programs that will help in a playful way to comprehend all the intricacies of regular cleaning.
Folk methods of treatment
Adherents of “grandmother’s” methods should resort to them only if the contrasting white spots on the child’s teeth are an exclusively cosmetic defect and the doctor instructs them to be treated at home. For example, you can rinse your mouth with a weak solution of table vinegar (2 teaspoons of the substance per 1 tablespoon of salt and a glass of clean boiled water). Thus, you can get rid of plaque and restore the balance of minerals. The only negative of this tool is that the baby may swallow it out of interest or accidentally, so this method is recommended for older children.
There is also a safer strengthening composition for enamel. It’s about green tea. It contains flavonoids, as well as gallic, chlorogenic acids. With regular drinking of the drink, pigmentation will completely disappear. In addition, the condition of the mucous membranes in the mouth will improve significantly.
How to get rid of white spots on teeth
First of all, it is important to consult a doctor to find out the causes of an unpleasant symptom. A pediatric dentist will determine what provoked whitish formations on dental units, select effective therapeutic methods, and give recommendations on high-quality hygienic care and prevention.
If a carious lesion is detected at the initial stage, serious intervention is not required. In most cases, it is sufficient to use silvering (on a milk bite), demineralization, or ozonation (in the presence of permanent rows). The kid should be accustomed to proper hygiene.
When caries are deep and painful, the use of a drill and the installation of filling material cannot be avoided. With a running pathological process, depopulation and even extraction (removal) are indicated.
If an excess of fluoride is found in the child’s body, the doctor will advise using a paste without this component. Remineralization is also shown.
In case of whitening of tooth surfaces from a bracket system or other orthodontic structures, complex treatment is carried out, which includes:
- Elimination of carious cavities;
- Disinfection;
- Replacement of simulators with new ones;
- Regular dental check-ups;
- Professional cleaning from food debris and accumulated plaque.
Problem Prevention from White spots on milk teeth
To prevent the appearance of white spots on the enamel of the teeth in children, it is necessary to follow simple preventive recommendations:
- Take your child to the dentist at least twice a year. If there is a predisposition to caries or a malocclusion is diagnosed, it is recommended to do this more often, approximately every quarter.
- Control the quality of care for dental units and the oral cavity as a whole.
- Follow your diet. Nutrition should be complete, varied, and balanced. It is important to include products of both plant and animal origin in the menu.
- It is necessary to reduce the use of confectionery, sweet soda, and muffins.
- Give the baby multivitamins and mineral complexes after illnesses and during periods of active growth and development (strictly in consultation with the doctor).
- Stick to a diet during pregnancy. It is worth including more dairy products and plant foods in the diet.
- Do not use tetracycline during the gestational process, as this substance adversely affects the enamel.
- Treat all diseases in a timely manner, preventing the transition to a chronic form.
- Carry out oral care after the appearance of the first incisor.
- Preschoolers under 4 years old should not buy fluoride pastes and monitor the level of the element in tap water.
- Listen to the opinion of experts, and do not allow self-treatment.
Summing up on White spots on milk teeth
White spots on growing children’s teeth do not always indicate the presence of a pathological process. Despite the positive statistics, you should not do anything on your own and self-medicate without consulting a doctor. It is impossible to delay a visit to the dental clinic because getting rid of the problem is much easier at the initial stage than in advanced cases associated with deep damage.
Sometimes light spots on the enamel indicate serious systemic pathologies, and a simple examination by a dentist will not be enough. Additional analyzes and advice from narrow specialists will be needed.
By following preventive rules, you can prevent the appearance of light spots. It is important to teach your child to care for the oral cavity regularly and periodically show it to the dentist.