My Grill

Back when I was a wee youngin' and my permanent two front teeth came in, they didn't look like all the other teeth. There were white marks on the front and even though I had a nice smile, it was noticeable. I went through many a school year (mostly elementary when kids have no class) of kids asking, "What is that white stuff on your teeth??" My mom always suggested I answer with, "What is that yellow stuff hanging out of your nose?"

I never really cared much about it and as I got older most of it started to go away. But on one tooth it actually got worse. I finally found out the "white spots" were areas of demineralization. This was not a result of acid eating away at the enamel--after all, the permanent teeth had it as soon as they grew in. Some dentists have told me the demineralization is due to inflammation or infection, such as I had a fever when the teeth were developing. Others have told me it has to do with the fact that I have had strep throat so much throughout my life. Who knows??!!

Although the marks weren't something I dwelled on or even really cared about, I always hoped that someday I could get them whitened or something. Well, it turns out that one of the front teeth was getting weak due to the demineralization and needed to be fixed, i.e. bonded. They basically just dug out the weak spot (aka, the white spot) and filled it in. So, that is what I had done this morning! Here are the before and after shots:

BEFORE: Demineralization on #8 and #10 (central incisor and lateral incisor, respectively)

AFTER

You'll notice there is not a HUGE difference...and there is a little bit of demineralization on the canine, but I told him I wasn't concerned about it if it's not causing any damage to the actual tooth. But this is the look we were going for...I didn't want new white teeth or anything fancy done. I like my smile and wanted to keep MY smile! My dentist was happy with the results and now I'm going to be on their website...yikes! But at least you can't see my face :)

I'm still numb up to my nose and can't wait for it to go away so I feel normal again. All in all, it was a successful morning in the chair!