Can fluorosis vanish in a week?

February 4, 2014 10:35 AM

Can fluorosis vanish in a week? I thought once you have it, it does not go away unless a dentist treats you for it.

My nine year old had no problems at all. But I had been giving her the regular fluoride toothpaste that most people give kids. Well, we took her to the dentist and he put a fluoride treatment on her. She has had those before, so I thought nothing of it. Then not long after (like a few weeks later), I saw her smile in the light and I noticed her front top teeth looked funny. They were half white and half light yellow. The top part of her upper teeth were the light yellow and the bottom part (of her upper teeth) were bright white. It looked bad and I showed my husband. Then we had her brush immediately with her electric toothbrush. I even brushed them manually, but there was no change. We looked online to see what fluorosis looks like, and one of the photos looked exactly like my daughter's teeth. My husband went out later that day and got my daughter some natural toothpaste that had no flouride. We figured we would try to stop the process, but the computer said that once this happens, it does not go away unless treated by a dentist.

However, a week later she smiled into the light again, and miraculously her teeth were back to normal.

From everything that happened, it really looks like she had fluorosis. For we really scrubbed her teeth when we first found it, and nothing had changed. Could it be that the fluoride treatment the dentist gave her pushed the envelope and gave her the condition, but because she is nine and so young....her body healed itself????

Any thoughts?

thanks in advance!

posted by lynnie-the-pooh to Health & Fitness (8 answers total)

Sometimes my teeth get a kind of mottled look about them. It looks a lot like fluorosis. It comes and goes. Apparently this can be a side effect of whitening toothpastes.

For what it's worth, my teeth are super healthy. The occasional spotting is cosmetic and, for me, disappears within a day or two and is mostly unnoticeable except from very close.

Check in with your dentist to be certain, but for the most part I wouldn't worry about it.
posted by phunniemee at 10:41 AM on February 4, 2014

Response by poster: Well, curious is more of the word I would describe myself, rather than worried.
Especially when I am no longer giving her fluoride toothpaste. I also am thinking I will tell the dentist to not put the fluoride treatment on next time. As my understanding is, dentists will give that to kids two times a year if you say nothing.

I'm just curious too, because I thought that once you had fluorisis, you had it.
posted by lynnie-the-pooh at 10:45 AM on February 4, 2014

According to Wikipedia, fluorosis affects teeth only before they've erupted into the oral cavity; children age 8 and older are not considered at risk.

So, whatever it was, it most likely wasn't fluorosis.
posted by melissasaurus at 10:46 AM on February 4, 2014 [6 favorites]

If your dentist gave her a fluoride treatment then, unless he/she is grossly neglegent, he/she most likely did not find evidence of fluorosis upon examination, nor suspect that you live in a place where fluorosis is a common problem. Dentists in areas where fluorosis is common would likely not be giving these treatments willy-nilly and unless your child is somehow ingesting fluoride somewhere else, she wouldn't likely just pick it up. Has anyone else in the family shown symptoms as this is a condition that is environmental and would likely be seen in other family members?
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 11:13 AM on February 4, 2014 [1 favorite]

You might consider asking your dentist for advice, before you stop using fluoridated toothpaste! Especially if you're concerned about the possible fluoridosis.
posted by leahwrenn at 11:44 AM on February 4, 2014 [5 favorites]

As noted, fluorosis occurs during tooth development prior to eruption. My recommendation is to call the dentist for two reasons: to put your mind at ease, and so you'll feel comfortable going back to a fluoride toothpaste.
posted by gimli at 11:56 AM on February 4, 2014 [3 favorites]

Best answer: My teeth do this when I have a cold and sleep with my mouth open. It goes away after a few days. One morning it's just back to normal. I asked my dentist once and he gave me a reason (now forgotten) but it is fine and only a cosmetic issue that goes away on its own.
posted by saradarlin at 8:14 PM on February 4, 2014 [1 favorite]

My daughter's teeth do this with a certain type of oral antibiotic.
posted by moira at 2:17 PM on February 5, 2014