My teenager has always had thin tooth enamel. We tried to be very careful when she had braces. We seemed to avoid the splotchiness in all but her front two teeth. I’m glad her teeth are straight but these need to be dealt with. I’ve heard there is a procedure to fix it. Do you know if dental insurance will cover it?

Caroline

Dear Caroline,

These white spots, as you probably know are decalcification— precursors to tooth decay. There are two possible solutions to this. The first only works sometimes. There is a product called Tooth Mousse that can sometimes re-calcify teeth. It doesn’t work all the time, but is inexpensive and worth a shot in my opinion. You can get it online.

If that doesn’t work, a sure-fire solution is dental bonding. You will need an expert cosmetic dentist for this so don’t expect your average family dentist to be able to do it. Above, I’ve shown an image of dental bonding that is being used to fix a chipped tooth. What your daughter will need is for the decalcification spots to be gently sanded off and then the composite bonding can fill in the gaps.

As I mentioned earlier this procedure needs an expert cosmetic dentist. The whole thing is done freehand, plus you want them to know enough color theory to be able to match her teeth perfectly. I would look for a qualified dentist on the mynewsmile.com website. Every dentist on their is prescreened for their cosmetic training and artistic skill.

As for your dental insurance, it varies from policy to policy, but do not expect it to cover the whole procedure. At the most, they will contribute to it, but that is about all I would expect.

This blog is brought to you by New Orleans Cosmetic Dentist Dr. Duane Delaune.