Hypocalification and Hypercalcification
Ask the Dental Experts
Our philosophy is to help our patients achieve and maintain exceptional dental health. We work hard to make sure that our level of care is deserving of our patients’ respect and confidence. Our tradition of preventive dentistry is the basis for all service and care in our practice. We welcome all questions and comments regarding dentistry in the hope that we increase your dental "IQ" and help you make better dental health decisions.
Hello!
I recently had a dentist appointment, where I was told that there were spots of calcification on my teeth. I have been trying to find the causes of it, but have not had much luck. I almost think that I heard him wrong, because there is only information on decalcification. The problem is almost grainy parts of my teeth next to my gums. He said that I could have them fixed with filler, but I am just a bit confused.Any thoughts or clarifying information?
Thanks,Alicia
Hi, Alicia.
Teeth can have white areas or spots in the enamel that can be either hypo – or hyper calcified areas. They kind of look the same. When we say hypercalcified areas, we are usually talking about areas that occur naturally in the teeth. If you look closely at enamel, you will see that there is a blend of many different colors, and sometimes there is just a white spot or two….or more. Sometimes on kids we call these “temperature spots”, as they correlate with times in the child’s growth that there was an infection (maybe ear infection) that had a systemic effect on tooth formation…usually no treatment is necessary, unless there is a cosmetic problem. Usually the treatment to change the appearance would be to bond the area with composite resin material to blend in with surrounding enamel.
Hypocalcified areas are different. These are generally soft spots in the enamel where decay has started. It kind of looks the same, but it is not hard like hypercalcified areas, but softening as the decay process goes on. As the enamel decalcifies because of exposure to the acid in dental plaque, it gets “chalky” looking and whiter…. These areas occur where plaque accumulates and cavities form. Most likely areas are around braces, around the cervical “neck” of the tooth, around dental fillings and crowns, and in between the teeth if dental floss is not used. If that plaque is sitting there and not removed by brushing and flossing, decay often follows. Always this decay process is accelerated if the patient eats a lot of candy, sips soft drinks all day, or has acid reflux. These conditions increase the acidity in the area, and the enamel breaks down faster. So, if you are drinking 6 Cokes a day, you can almost watch the decay happen. If these areas are restored, the most common material used is again cosmetic bonding with composite resin….same treatment for different reason. People that have this decay process need to learn better cleaning habits, need to evaluate how frequently they are exposing their mouth to sugar, use stronger fluoride gels daily – all to understand their risk factors and manage the problem. If these habits are not changed, decay will happen again, around the new restoration.
Does that help? You just need to ask a couple of questions of the dentist you are seeing.
Chuck Campbell, DDS
Our philosophy is to help our patients achieve and maintain exceptional dental health. We work hard to make sure that our level of care is deserving of our patients’ respect and confidence. Our tradition of preventive dentistry is the basis for all service and care in our practice. We welcome all questions and comments regarding dentistry in the hope that we increase your dental "IQ" and help you make better dental health decisions.
Hello!
I recently had a dentist appointment, where I was told that there were spots of calcification on my teeth. I have been trying to find the causes of it, but have not had much luck. I almost think that I heard him wrong, because there is only information on decalcification. The problem is almost grainy parts of my teeth next to my gums. He said that I could have them fixed with filler, but I am just a bit confused.Any thoughts or clarifying information?
Thanks,Alicia
Hi, Alicia.
Teeth can have white areas or spots in the enamel that can be either hypo – or hyper calcified areas. They kind of look the same. When we say hypercalcified areas, we are usually talking about areas that occur naturally in the teeth. If you look closely at enamel, you will see that there is a blend of many different colors, and sometimes there is just a white spot or two….or more. Sometimes on kids we call these “temperature spots”, as they correlate with times in the child’s growth that there was an infection (maybe ear infection) that had a systemic effect on tooth formation…usually no treatment is necessary, unless there is a cosmetic problem. Usually the treatment to change the appearance would be to bond the area with composite resin material to blend in with surrounding enamel.
Hypocalcified areas are different. These are generally soft spots in the enamel where decay has started. It kind of looks the same, but it is not hard like hypercalcified areas, but softening as the decay process goes on. As the enamel decalcifies because of exposure to the acid in dental plaque, it gets “chalky” looking and whiter…. These areas occur where plaque accumulates and cavities form. Most likely areas are around braces, around the cervical “neck” of the tooth, around dental fillings and crowns, and in between the teeth if dental floss is not used. If that plaque is sitting there and not removed by brushing and flossing, decay often follows. Always this decay process is accelerated if the patient eats a lot of candy, sips soft drinks all day, or has acid reflux. These conditions increase the acidity in the area, and the enamel breaks down faster. So, if you are drinking 6 Cokes a day, you can almost watch the decay happen. If these areas are restored, the most common material used is again cosmetic bonding with composite resin….same treatment for different reason. People that have this decay process need to learn better cleaning habits, need to evaluate how frequently they are exposing their mouth to sugar, use stronger fluoride gels daily – all to understand their risk factors and manage the problem. If these habits are not changed, decay will happen again, around the new restoration.
Does that help? You just need to ask a couple of questions of the dentist you are seeing.
Chuck Campbell, DDS
Labels: hypercalcification, hypocalicification
posted by Dental Expert at
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