White spots on teeth are areas where the tooth enamel has lost minerals, leading to a chalky, opaque appearance and areas of discoloration. These spots can signal early tooth decay, nutritional deficiencies, sleep issues, or too much exposure to fluoride.
This guide covers the most common causes of these spots, followed by treatment and prevention strategies from a biological dentistry approach. You can maintain a healthier smile and avoid future enamel issues when you have the information you need for improved oral health.
Before treating or reversing white spots on your teeth, you have to identify the underlying causes. Too much fluoride, mouth breathing while asleep, poor oral hygiene, untreated tooth decay, or hereditary conditions may all play a role.
Fluoride can cause white spots on teeth through a condition called dental fluorosis, which can happen with too much exposure to fluoride. Children’s developing teeth are particularly vulnerable.
During this stage, excess fluoride can interfere with the formation of tooth enamel, leading to areas of hypomineralization. These areas appear as faint white streaks, spots, or patches on the tooth surface.
Fluorosis is irreversible, but specific dental procedures can safely and effectively mask the resulting discoloration. Consider non-fluoride toothpaste that can still support a healthy oral microbiome, like Revitin.
White spots on your teeth may form because of plaque buildup, which results from poor dental hygiene, including improper or infrequent brushing and flossing. When plaque isn’t regularly removed, the bacteria produce acids that demineralize the enamel.
This early stage of tooth decay results in white spot lesions. This plaque buildup may also cause cavities. Fortunately, early tooth decay is reversible with a healthy diet and proper oral hygiene, including regular dental visits.
If you wake up with white spots in the morning that disappear later in the day, you may be experiencing dehydration from mouth breathing during sleep. Mouth breathing has a lot of adverse symptoms, including temporary white spots on teeth.
Mouth breathing can contribute to white spots on teeth by causing dry mouth and reducing saliva flow, especially overnight. Once saliva hits dehydrated teeth, they typically rehydrate within a few hours, and the white spots will disappear for the rest of the day.
Over time, though, you may be putting yourself at a higher risk of enamel demineralization, which can lead to white spot lesions that aren’t as easily fixed.
Sleep apnea is a common cause of mouth breathing during sleep. Consider a DNA oral appliance to slowly and safely alter the structure of your mouth and reduce your risk of obstructive sleep apnea and mouth breathing during sleep.
Acidic foods and drinks like citrus, soda, and processed foods may lead to white spots on your teeth by contributing to demineralization and disrupting the natural balance in the mouth. Highly acidic foods wear down your dental enamel, the outer layer of your teeth.
Diets high in sugar can also feed harmful bacteria. Sugar isn’t acidic, but it contributes to the formation of bacterial plaque, which excretes acid and erodes tooth enamel.
A diet lacking in essential nutrients is harmful to your overall health, but in terms of your oral health, poor nutrition can weaken enamel and increase your risk of spots. A balance of calcium is especially important. Calcium spots are areas of enamel where calcium has been lost or unevenly deposited, causing white patches on teeth.
Everything in the body is connected. In my book, The Mouth-Body Connection, I explore the power of a healthy mouth as the key to a healthier body.
Wearing braces may cause white spots on your teeth, but you may not notice them until the braces come off. If you can’t clean your teeth under the braces properly, plaque builds up around the location of the brackets.
The white spots represent the demineralization of your tooth surface due to the untreated plaque buildup. Talk with your dentist about proper oral hygiene while wearing braces.
Enamel hypoplasia is a dental defect that means you have less dental enamel than average, often due to genetic or early childhood root causes outside your control. Less enamel implies the appearance of your teeth is atypical, sometimes presenting as white spots.
Enamel hypoplasia symptoms also include grooves and pits in the teeth, tooth sensitivity, and yellow-brown stains. There is no cure for enamel hypoplasia, but dental treatments can improve the appearance of your teeth and reduce tooth sensitivity.
Demineralization is the underlying process that causes most white spots on teeth. It happens when the enamel loses essential minerals like calcium and phosphate due to exposure to acids produced by plaque bacteria or acidic foods and drinks. These acids break down the enamel’s structure, creating porous areas that appear as dull, chalky white patches.
Demineralization is an early stage of tooth decay, but it’s also reversible if caught early. Left unchecked, it can lead to cavities. Preventing demineralization involves good oral hygiene, diet control, and regular dental care.
