The 2 Most Common Causes of White Spots on Your Teeth

If you’re like most Americans, you spend a lot of time and money trying to lighten and whiten your teeth and undo years of yellowing and staining. Yet, there are some white spots that aren’t desirable. Not only are they unsightly, but they may mean that you’re at risk for tooth decay. 

At Smile Design Manhattan, our sought-after team of dental professionals offers a wide range of dental services to protect the health of your teeth. Whether you need to correct a misalignment, replace several teeth, or repair decay, we offer individualized care for all of our patients in New York City.

If you’ve developed white spots on your teeth, it’s helpful to know what’s causing them and how we can help you treat them.

Two Causes of white spots on teeth

A couple of the most common causes for unusually white spots on your teeth are:

Excess fluoride

Fluorosis is a common condition that frequently affects children during the years when they’re teeth are still developing. It occurs if they ingest too much fluoride from toothpaste while they’re learning to brush their teeth, which can cause a speckling of white spots on the surface of their teeth. Municipal water supply also contains fluoride. If your city’s tap water is highly fluoridated, it may be contributing to overconsumption and fluorosis.

Wearing braces

Wearing braces for a year or two, as most people do, presents some challenges when you clean your teeth each day. In addition to some areas of debris and discoloration where the braces blocked your toothbrush’s access, you may also discover the unwanted white spots as well.  

Painless spot removal

If you’re discouraged by white spots on your teeth or if they’ve developed on your child’s teeth, we offer an innovative technology — the Icon® resin infiltration system — that halts the decay and smooths away the spots. 

In the past, the go-to remedy for white spots was to drill them out and fill in the area. Even though this procedure works, it’s evasive, temporary, and time consuming. 

Using the Icon system, we polish away the compromised layer of enamel and apply a medical-grade resin that penetrates and permeates the part of the tooth where the white spot resides. We cure the resin with a special light, then smooth the surface to reveal beautiful, spotless white teeth. 

We perform the Icon procedure in an hour or less, so you can go right back to work, school, or your regular activities. 

When you’re ready to eliminate uneven white spots on your teeth, call us at 646-307-0869 to schedule your appointment. You can also quickly and conveniently book online.