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Demineralization of enamel?

M

MountainMama

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 1, 2018
Messages
2,593
My teen daughter has braces and the orthodontist found a small surface cavity where a bracket popped off.

The dentist filled the cavity yesterday but said that the whole area along the bottom of her tooth (lower first molar) had areas of demineralization, along the edge where the bracket had been. He gave us some prescription toothpaste and told her to use it while she had the braces, and to avoid soda and too much sugar.

My question is about other drinks. She does not drink much soda, just occasionally at a restaurant. We don’t have it at the house. She does drink a lot of tea with honey, and she loves coffee with sugar, although I limit her on that. Are tea and coffee bad?
 
No, but putting honey and sugar in them is very bad indeed!

Honey is a particularly highly cariogenic substance (cariogenic=creates decay). With hot drinks you tend to sip them slowly over a longer time period so there's more time for the bugs to break down the sugar and cause more acid damage.
 
@Gordon thank you for the info! I will pass this along to my daughter. She will need to cut back on the tea for sure, or drink it without the honey/sugar.
 
@Gordon

One more question…we went back to the orthodontist and instead of a bracket, they put on a band. I didn’t get to talk to the orthodontist. Since Covid, they haven’t let parents in the building.
My daughter said they used a lot of glue and put the band on for more support (she has a rubber band on that tooth to the upper one).

The band now covers the part that was demineralized. There is a tiny sliver of tooth showing. Is the prescription toothpaste going to do any good now? Will the band and glue make the demineralization worse or help protect the tooth more?
 
You're asking the wrong person here, I know next to nothing about orthodontics :)
If the band is sealing the demineralised area then it will stop it getting worse. The high fluoride paste won't get to the area but will hopefully work on the rest of her enamel to strengthen that a bit.
 
You're asking the wrong person here, I know next to nothing about orthodontics :)
If the band is sealing the demineralised area then it will stop it getting worse. The high fluoride paste won't get to the area but will hopefully work on the rest of her enamel to strengthen that a bit.
For someone who knows next to nothing about orthodontics, you have a great answer. 😊

Good to know the glue sealing the band will help stop the enamel getting worse. We have new patient appointments scheduled at our new location for Aug 23 now, as long as our house here closes on time. Buyers are being difficult. 😒

She will hopefully only have about ten weeks between ortho treatments.
 
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