Avoiding Enamel Damage During Braces

My older sister had braces and her enamel ended up deteriorating. When her braces come off there were the white spots and they turned into cavities. I’m about to have braces and I am terrified that I’m going to have the same thing happen. Is there anything that I can do that will keep that from happening to me?

CeeCee

Dear Cee Cee,

I am glad you wrote. The fact that these white spots turned into decay tells me that your sister was not under good dental care. There is a solution when this happens. Either her dentist did not know the solution or did not bother to tell her. Neither of those are good in my book. But first, let’s talk about how you can prevent this.

The white spots are decalcification. this means that your sister wasn’t quite getting the areas around her braces really clean. Granted that is tricky, but it can be done with persistance. You will need to brush your teeth diligently, really getting in the spots around the metal wires and brackets. If you do that, there should not be a problem with white spots.

A second option is to get some aligner based orthodontics, such as Invisalign or Spark Aligners. These use clear aligners instead of metal wires and brackets to clean your teeth. These have the benefit of allowing you to remove the aligners in order to brush and floss your teeth, making it easier to get your teeth completely clean.

Let’s says that you still got metal braces and you ended up with those white spots. The solution would be to see a cosmetic dentist who can use microabrasion on the white spots and then cover that area with dental bonding.

That being said, this is avoidable with careful oral hygiene during your treatment.

This blog is brought to you by Bee Cave Orthodontist Dr. Alberto Tostado.