How to restore tooth enamel - the most popular methods

Soldatova Lyudmila Nikolaevna

Candidate of Medical Sciences, Professor of the Department of Clinical Dentistry of the St. Petersburg Medical and Social Institute, Chief Physician of the Alfa-Dent Dental Clinic, St. Petersburg

Enamel is the hardest part of the tooth. This tissue consists of enameloblasts, proteins, lipids and water. Although, at first glance, the enamel has a uniform structure, this is not the case. It varies in thickness in different areas of the teeth. But, unfortunately, even the strongest enamel on teeth can begin to wear off. How to prevent this unpleasant process? Let's try to figure it out.

Content:

1. Why is there a need to strengthen enamel?
2. Signs in the presence of which you need to think about strengthening
3. Products that can help improve the situation
4. Dentist advice
5. Strengthening techniques used in dentistry
6. Pastes and gels

Tooth enamel is one of the hardest tissues of the human body.
But, despite its strength, over the years it gradually collapses and becomes thinner. Then a completely logical question arises: how to strengthen teeth in order to avoid serious dental problems. Violation of the natural structure of the enamel layers is facilitated by eating too hot and very cold foods, smoking, and a love of sweets. Oral health is also negatively affected by the fact that many people do not pay due attention to daily hygiene care. They ignore the need for an annual visit to the dental hygienist.

Online consultation with a doctor

If you are concerned about the condition of your teeth: the color of the enamel has changed, local stains have appeared, or the tone has changed over the entire surface. If sensitivity has increased, the teeth react with pain to hot, cold, sour, sweet. Do you want to learn about ways to restore enamel? It is best to undergo an examination and consultation with a dentist. Because disturbing symptoms may not just be a sign of damaged dental tubules, beginning with caries, but a progressive disease of a deeper nature. If you do not act on time, complications may arise: gingivitis, periodontitis, inflammation of soft and hard tissues, diseases not related to dentistry. The specialist will give recommendations on further actions. Inaction will lead to the necessary more expensive treatment and work to preserve teeth. Otherwise:

• depulpation;
• restoration;
• implantation;
• posing.

Why is there a need to strengthen enamel?

Caries is one of the most common problems that dentists have to deal with. It is because of its frequent occurrence that many people are forced to look for ways to strengthen their teeth. The disease is caused by:

• genetic predisposition to an abnormal process;
• disruptions in the functioning of the endocrine system;
• severe pathologies of the stomach and intestines;
• untimely removal of soft plaque and hard stone;
• non-compliance with dental cleaning techniques;
• refusal to eliminate non-carious enamel lesions;
• pathological abrasion;
• incorrect bite, due to which it is impossible to properly clean individual interdental areas;
• poor diet, habit of eating a lot of sour and sweet foods;
• alcohol abuse, tobacco addiction;
• habit of chewing foreign objects.

Often the enamel is greatly weakened due to hormonal changes. This is why many expectant mothers become patients in dental clinics.

Dental vitamins during pregnancy

Taking vitamins for pregnant women is a controversial issue. Doctors recommend starting to drink synthetic complexes no earlier than the second trimester.

What kind of calcium can you drink during pregnancy to promote the formation of healthy teeth in the fetus and not lose your teeth? In fact, you can take any calcium, always with vitamin D3 and K2, as well as with the other microelements listed above. The main thing to consider is the following points:

• Do not exceed dosage.
• Do not take the complex for more than 2 months in total and 2 weeks in a row.

Dentists even advise buying good vitamins even at the stage of pregnancy planning, since the formation of teeth in the fetus occurs in the first weeks. If the expectant mother has a good supply of necessary substances in her body, then the baby will not have problems with teeth.

Of course, it is better to purchase a vitamin-mineral complex as prescribed by a doctor, and not choose it based on reviews on the Internet.

Signs in the presence of which you need to think about strengthening

You should ask a qualified dentist how to strengthen your teeth if:

• the enamel has acquired an unsightly yellow or gray tint, which is why the smile begins to look less aesthetically pleasing than before;
• when eating sour, sweet, or spicy foods, sharp dental pain periodically appears;
• the coronal part has become transparent in the area of ​​the cutting edge;
• pain occurs when biting and chewing hard foods;
• chips and cracks appeared;
• rapidly progressing caries developed.

In all these cases, you need to make an appointment with a dentist as soon as possible. The doctor will conduct a simple diagnosis and determine what caused the problem, and select medications that will improve the condition of the enamel.

Should baby teeth be preserved?

“Do I need to keep baby teeth if they fall out in a couple of years? Do they really need prevention?! But permanent teeth are a different matter!” - this is what many parents think and say. “But if a child has chronic diseases, no one will wait to treat them in adulthood; everyone understands that their trace will go into adulthood,” notes Victoria Korchagina. “The same thing happens with teeth: if baby teeth are damaged, destroyed, they were treated a lot and often removed, it means that the permanent ones will face the same fate.”

There is a direct connection between general immunity and the condition of the oral cavity. Caries develops more actively in children who have chronic diseases. And vice versa, the higher the activity of caries in a child, the more often he stays at home and does not go to kindergarten due to illness, the more prone he is to intestinal problems, allergic reactions, and respiratory diseases.

Typically, the pathogenic and non-pathogenic flora of the oral cavity are in a state of balance, but as soon as a person gets sick, this balance is disrupted, increasing the risk of diseases of the teeth, gums and mucous membranes.

A vicious circle arises. A sick, weakened child refuses to brush his teeth, and his parents sympathize with him - so as not to be capricious again, they stop brushing his teeth. As a result, after another illness, the child develops new carious cavities and gums bleed.

Multiple caries, in turn, supports foci of chronic infection in the body. Therefore, you should always brush your teeth: both in sickness and in health. This will help not only to recover faster, but also not to get sick as often.

Products that can help improve the situation

In the human body, a lot depends on nutrition. It is impossible to have a healthy smile if you consume a huge amount of junk food every day. If a person wants to make his enamel resistant to the negative influences of external irritants, he should eat a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables. Also useful:

• Seafood. They are a quality source of phosphorus.
• Fermented milk and dairy products containing calcium.
• Kiwi. This fruit is a real storehouse of ascorbic acid. At the same time, unlike oranges, tangerines and lemons rich in this vitamin, it does not irritate the enamel.
• Greenery. Source of a huge amount of vitamins and microelements. You definitely need to eat it. If a person does not like greens, they should treat them as natural medicine and still use them in their cooking on a regular basis.
• Honey. Beekeepers call it a natural antiseptic. It perfectly relieves inflammation and promotes rapid healing of gum disease.

To strengthen your teeth, it is very important to stop drinking any sweet carbonated drinks, smoking, and alcohol. It is also not recommended to frequently chew nuts and seeds or smoke.

What vitamins and minerals are missing if you have bad teeth?

Most often, healthy and strong teeth are associated with calcium. What traditional medicine does not recommend for this is powder from eggshells, from corals, and even ordinary chalk. Unfortunately, the human body is much more complex than an ordinary chemical flask. Regular consumption of ground organic calcium will not always lead to a positive result.

In order to absorb the required amount of this substance, it is necessary to ensure that some other minerals and vitamins enter the body. Moreover, all of them must be either in an active form, or in such a form that our body itself can quickly convert them into such. A prerequisite is the stability of the complex in the aggressive environment of gastric acid, or, on the contrary, it should have a positive effect on the absorption of one or another substance we need.

When it comes to teeth, the presence of calcium, vitamin D3, magnesium, phosphorus and other active substances in the diet is mandatory. Despite the good reviews from adherents of “grandmother’s recipes,” it is unlikely that you will be able to limit your dental care to eggshells only.

Is it possible to get your daily requirement of vitamins and minerals from food?

The calcium content in our usual foods is quite high. With a balanced diet, there is no problem in getting the 1000 mg due to a person. Same with other essential vitamins and minerals. However, one nuance remains: does everyone adhere to a balanced diet, when the diet contains sufficient quantities of sea fish, fresh herbs, various vegetable oils, seeds and nuts?

Most often, the diet of the modern average person is poor in vitamins and minerals, so it is better to buy them. Fortunately, pharmacies have a huge selection of drugs indicating which vitamins and minerals they contain and in what quantities.

It is worth mentioning vitamin D separately. Whatever products contain it, the bulk of it is synthesized in the body under the influence of sunlight. This means, in addition to a balanced diet, we need to spend enough time outdoors on sunny days. How many working people can afford such luxury? This means that a good vitamin complex is simply a must for anyone who monitors their health, and in particular the condition of their teeth and oral cavity in general.

Dentist advice

Doctors emphasize that you need to carefully take care of your oral health and brush your teeth in a timely manner. A high level of hygiene is the basis without which nothing can be achieved at all. If plaque is not removed in a timely manner, thinned enamel, loosening of the molar units, hyperesthesia, and gingivitis will not take long to occur.

At the same time, it is not enough to just brush your teeth in the morning and evening - you need to do it correctly. During the procedure, you should use a high-quality brush and paste (it’s good if your dentist selects them).

To the aid of sensitive and caries-prone units come:

• rinses with anti-inflammatory activity;
• strengthening gels;
• floss;
• professional hygiene.

Professional oral hygiene

Due to his age, a child, no matter how well his parents teach him to care for his oral cavity, does not do it well enough, so plaque accumulates on the enamel. And under such conditions, the probability of developing caries on baby teeth is almost one hundred percent. This means that the child also needs additional professional care, that is, comprehensive teeth cleaning, which will be the best prevention of caries and inflammation of periodontal tissue.

We recommend carrying out comprehensive hygiene 2-3 times a year, not only to prevent caries, but also to familiarize the child with the work of a doctor, instruments and the dental office - he will be less afraid and when treatment is required, the process will be much easier. It can be carried out from the moment the child’s primary teeth have fully grown.

What is the difference between a pediatric procedure and an adult one? Children do not use abrasive compounds, i.e. Air Flow device is not used. Cleaning fragile enamel is carried out as carefully as possible:

• Using a brush and polishing paste, the doctor cleans all hard-to-reach areas,
• sometimes an ultrasonic scaler is used to remove solid deposits (if necessary),
• The enamel is coated with a protective remineralizing fluoride varnish.

Strengthening techniques used in dentistry

Experienced dentists use highly concentrated products enriched with minerals when working with “problem” teeth. Additionally, they prescribe fluoride-containing pastes and remineralizing gels to patients, which can be used at home.

This is the name of the most effective dental procedures to strengthen teeth:

• Remineralization. First, professional hygiene is carried out. Using an ultrasonic scaler, the doctor cleans the crowns of deposits. After this, it covers them with a special remineralizing composition. Prepared enamel absorbs beneficial components like a sponge. Due to this, her condition improves. It becomes dense, very hard and perfectly smooth. In advanced cases, one remineralization session may not be enough. Then it is repeated two to four times at certain intervals.
• Fluoridation. Often this type of treatment is combined with remineralization. This is due to the fact that fluoride is better absorbed after calcium. Fluoridation means the treatment of hard dental tissues with a fluoride-containing preparation. It quickly penetrates into the deep layers of the tooth and saturates its tissues, making them more resistant to negative external factors. It is especially important to undergo fluoridation twice a year for people who live in regions where the water flowing from the taps is low in fluoride compounds.

How baby teeth develop

Teething in children usually begins at 4–8 months. The lower central incisors appear first, followed by the upper ones. By the age of 2.5–3 years, a healthy child already has a full set of 20 baby teeth. After the tooth erupts, its development continues - the enamel is mineralized; the root grows and forms. These physiological processes are influenced by the child's health status, so premature babies and children who were ill in the first year of life need early prevention of caries.

The enamel of teeth after eruption is not sufficiently mineralized; it is immature and tender, like the skin of a baby. Within about two years after the eruption of each tooth, the mineralization of the enamel is completed - it becomes stronger and more resistant to external influences. For mineralization to occur successfully, the baby’s mouth must be clean (without food and drink residues that accumulate after each meal) and he himself must be healthy.

The enamel of baby teeth is thinner than the enamel of permanent teeth; she sensitively reacts to any deviations in the baby’s body, showing us, like a litmus test, that something is not happening in the body according to the rules and we need to pay attention to it.

By 2.5–3 years, each baby tooth is a full-fledged organ: it has a “nerve”, a root; enamel and dentin, as in a permanent adult tooth. But baby teeth have many features and differ from permanent teeth in the same way as a child differs from an adult.

Pastes and gels

At home, a person can strengthen enamel by using high-quality dental pastes and gels. Particularly valuable are compositions that include the following components:

• Fluorine. It is better absorbed when presented in the form of sodium fluoride or amino fluoride. Passing through the outer layers of enamel, these components react with hydroxyapatite, the main substance that makes up the upper shell of the tooth. As a result, a strong connection is formed that is not susceptible to the negative effects of bacteria and acids that cause caries. On an ongoing basis, a person can use products containing 1000 ppm of fluoride. If the doctor has prescribed a treatment course for weakened enamel, this indicator can be increased to 1500 ppm. In this case, the drug will also exhibit remineralizing properties. But it is suitable only for course use. If the packaging says that fluoride contains more than 1000 ppm, you should not use the product without consulting a doctor. Such amateur activities often result in fluorosis, a very unpleasant dental disease associated with an excess of fluoride in the body.
• Hydroxyapatite. An excellent remineralizing component. Helps to qualitatively strengthen dental tissues at home. It quickly integrates into the crystal lattice of hard tissues. Even eliminates caries at the spot stage. The compound fills all the small cracks and makes the crown part absolutely smooth, resistant to the destructive effects of bacteria and microbes.
• Amorphous calcium phosphate, glycerophosphate. These substances have the unique ability to form a kind of protective film on the surface being treated. It strengthens the enamel and protects the unit from the destructive influence of harmful factors. It is important to know that these two components are contraindicated for people who are allergic to milk protein.

Natural plant extracts. There are a lot of pastes with plant extracts on sale. Natural ingredients such as propolis, chamomile, sage, lavender, yarrow, and oak bark have proven themselves to be excellent. Of course, they are not as effective as the above-mentioned chemical components. But they have a good effect on the condition of the gums, relieve increased bleeding and provide reliable prevention of gingivitis.

If you are looking for something to strengthen your teeth, then start with professional hygiene. This procedure will prepare the dentition for further activities. Immediately after hygiene, ask your doctor what products he will recommend for you. This approach to therapy is the most effective and completely safe.

Oral hygiene training

From the age of 6-7 months, you need to clean your baby’s teeth using special rubber brushes. Oral hygiene using toothpaste and brushes should be taught from the age of 1-1.5 years. Please note that the paste for these purposes must also be correct - without fluoride. Children constantly swallow the product; fluoride contributes to the development of a disease such as fluorosis, as a result of which thin enamel is destroyed.

The main task of parents is to teach their child to properly perform hygiene procedures, because the accumulation of food debris on the teeth and gums contributes to the formation of soft and hard plaque. If a child does not take proper care of his teeth, no amount of prevention or strengthening of enamel will help avoid caries and inflammation in the oral cavity.

1 Kutsevlyav V.I. The role of timely sanitation of the oral cavity in the prevention of anomalies and deformations of the dental system, 2008.

Review of gels with remineralization effect for home use

Today, pharmacies have special gels in their assortment - to strengthen teeth, gums, get rid of hyperesthesia, inflammation and bleeding. It is better to start using such products after consulting with your dentist. Below is an overview of popular products for strengthening enamel and gums.

Gel ROCS Medical Minerals

A product with a remineralizing effect. Helps nourish the protective layer of dental tissues, saturating it with phosphorus, calcium and magnesium ions. After application to the enamel, it forms a kind of protective coating that prevents the negative effects of external aggressive factors. Xylitol in the composition normalizes the balance of microflora in the oral cavity. There is also a product designed specifically for use in children. The gel does not contain fluoride and is approved for use immediately after the appearance of primary incisors.

The cost of a 45 g tube will be about 400-450 rubles.

LACALUT fluor Gel

Regarding what else can be used to strengthen the enamel, many experts agree on the high effectiveness of LACALUT fluor Gel. The product contains sodium fluoride and amino fluoride. The combination of these substances promotes the formation of a protective layer on the surface of the crowns, stimulates restoration processes in the presence of chips and microcracks, as well as signs of pathological abrasion. Effectively fights hyperesthesia and also removes bacteria and plaque.

Price for a volume of 30 ml – 300-350 rubles.

GC Tooth Mousse

The mousse contains beneficial minerals and casein. By reacting with saliva, the active components are activated, forming a protective film on the surface of the enamel. It is not recommended to wash off the product for at least 7-10 minutes after application. The drug helps compact the surface layer and at the same time provides an excellent antiseptic effect. Recommended for use in combination with gum products of the same brand.

The approximate cost of the product (35 ml) is 1300-2000 rubles.

Protefix dental gel

According to the manufacturer, the product has a complex effect, promotes the restoration and saturation of the soft tissues of the oral cavity. The active components of the gel stimulate the regenerative properties of living tissues, effectively relieve inflammation and disinfect. Recommended for use if there are signs of inflammation in the gums.

Approximate price for 10 ml – 220-250 rubles.

Gel "Apident Active"

The domestically produced drug is not inferior in quality to its foreign analogues. It contains only natural plant ingredients, in particular propolis, bee venom, extracts of calendula, yarrow, sage, chamomile and fir. The product has a pronounced bactericidal effect on mucosal tissue, promotes their restoration and strengthening at the cellular level.

The cost of gel in a volume of 30 g will be about 200-250 rubles.

Professional methods

If the patient does not help solve the problem when the first symptoms appear, the enamel is destroyed to critical limits. Pain and tooth sensitivity appear.

At the first stage, the enamel is restored using special procedures. If therapy is not carried out, then the destruction continues and treatment of cervical caries will be required.

Modern medicine has a number of intensive techniques for restoring enamel:

Deep fluoridation

Saturation of enamel with mineral-based preparations. The technology operates on the principle of sealing pores and dentinal canals due to the penetration of the therapeutic composition deep into the layers of enamel. The resulting frame protects tooth tissue from leaching out useful components.

Deep fluoridation eliminates the following problems:

• smoothes the tooth surface;
• fills and eliminates cracks;
• protects against erasure.

Average cost 1,200 rub.

One procedure is enough.

Fluoride varnish

By distributing fluoride varnish over the tooth enamel, a protective film is created that remains for a long period. It protects the enamel and saturates it with oxygen. It is considered a preventative method; it does not help with severe defects.

Judging by reviews, fluoridation of teeth in children helps prevent caries.

Average cost 600 rub.

Remineralization

Saturation of enamel with a complex of mineral substances based on calcium and fluorine ions, which do not interfere with the opening and functioning of each other. The composition fills the voids and defects formed in the enamel, leaving a protective film on the teeth.

Remineralization solves problems:

• enamel abrasion;
• microdefects;
• tooth sensitivity.

Average cost 1,000 rub.

Implantation

Recently, dentists have begun to successfully use the enamel implantation method. It is used in difficult cases to restore large areas. In addition, there is also a visual effect - teeth look natural and aesthetically pleasing.

For implantation, a mixture with a special composition is used, which is close in structure to natural. Coupling occurs at the molecular level.

Average cost 8,000 rub.

Installation of veneers

These are thin ceramic plates that are attached over the teeth and look no different from them. Additional surface treatment is required for installation. In essence, this is microprosthetics, classified as non-removable.

A more expensive and advanced alternative to veneers are lumineers. They are distinguished by their small thickness and the absence of the need for strong grinding of teeth before installation.

Prices for covering teeth with veneers are given in this article.

We have prepared reviews for you about Crest toothpaste from the famous company Procter & Gamble.

We invite you to look at a photo with a disease such as cervical caries.

Here: https://www.vash-dentist.ru/krasota-i-uxod/zubnyie-pastyi/iz-tailanda-vidyi-osobennosti-i-otzyivyi.html - a description of black toothpaste from Thailand is given.