My teeth have always had little white spots on them, and I was hoping that having them bleached would make them less noticeable. I talked to my dentist about Zoom whitening and decided to have it done, but I am utterly disappointed with the results. Instead of hiding the white spots, they are even brighter. What happened?
— Stephanie in Mississippi
Stephanie,
The white spots sound like fluorosis – a condition that results from excess fluoride while the teeth are still forming. Zoom whitening and other bleaching products typically brighten natural tooth structure for most people, but if you have fluorosis, your dentist needs to use a different treatment.
You need to talk to your dentist in more detail about the results you were hoping to achieve. There are treatments that will hide the spots, but you and your dentist need to determine which one is best for your situation, and more often than not, it will be either using tooth-colored composite material or placing porcelain veneers. The good news is that it’s best to bleach before having restorative work done – especially if your goal was to not only hide the white spots, but overall have a brighter smile.
Also, you can expect it to take about a week for your new tooth color to stabilize, and you may even notice the white spots even less and decide that they look ok. Regardless of whether or not you seek further treatment, let your dentist know how you felt about the results.
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