People love showing off their “pearly whites.” That white part of your teeth is your enamel, and it’s important to keep it healthy and strong so you can continue to show off those pearly whites. Knowing how to strengthen teeth enamel is essential for maintaining long-term oral health.
Beavers and Broomfield Family Dentistry can help you keep your tooth enamel strong with different dental treatments, but much of it depends on you. You can build tooth enamel strength with the right tools and habits.
What Is Tooth Enamel?
Tooth enamel is a collection of minerals that are crystalized into a hard outer shell. This shell protects the inner living portion of your tooth. Enamel keeps your teeth healthy so that you can keep them throughout your lifetime.
Enamel is made up of minerals such as hydroxyapatite (a crystallized form of calcium phosphate), along with trace amounts of fluoride, sodium, and magnesium. These minerals form a hardened outer shell, which is one of the layers of your teeth, protecting the dentin and pulp beneath it.
The dentin is the inner protective layer of the tooth. The pulp is the living portion of the tooth with nerves and blood vessels. Damage to the pulp can kill the tooth and cause it to fall out. That’s why it’s so important to keep your enamel strong so it can do its job of protecting the inner tooth.
Signs of Weak Tooth Enamel
How can you identify signs of weakened tooth enamel? One of the first signs is tooth discoloration. If you notice brown or gray spots on your teeth, that could be a sign of tooth decay, which is the breakdown of the tooth enamel.
Bacteria can break down the mineral bonds in the enamel. That bacteria is found in plaque, which is that sticky white substance that clings to your teeth. The more plaque builds up, the more bacteria on your teeth can break down your enamel.
You may also notice chips, breaks, and cracks in your enamel. These may be signs of injury or of weak enamel. These can also open a path for bacteria to get inside the tooth and attack the dentin and pulp. You need to take care of any chips, breaks, cracks, or tooth decay right away.
How to Rebuild Tooth Enamel Naturally
Wondering how to strengthen enamel naturally? While you can reinforce and protect it, once enamel is lost, it can’t be regrown or replaced because it isn’t made of living tissue.
While you can’t rebuild your enamel naturally, there are ways to strengthen and protect the enamel you have left.
5 Ways to Strengthen and Protect Your Enamel
The key to keeping your teeth healthy is to keep your enamel strong. Beavers and Broomfield Family Dentistry can help with that, but the best ways to protect your enamel is to maintain healthy habits at home.
Brush Your Teeth
Brushing your teeth removes the plaque and bacteria that attack your enamel. You should floss your teeth first at least once a day, then brush your teeth to remove the plaque from the floss and the rest of the teeth. Brush for at least two minutes, and make sure you cover all sides of the tooth.
Use a Fluoride Toothpaste
Fluoride is part of the mineral bond in enamel and strengthens it. Brushing with a fluoride toothpaste will keep your enamel strong and help it protect your tooth.
Drink Lots of Water
Drinking water helps your teeth in several ways, particularly tap water. Some tap water has fluoride in it naturally or added, and that fluoride will strengthen your enamel.
Water also washes away food and bacteria from your teeth as you drink it. Water keeps your mouth moist and allows your saliva to remove plaque, food particles, and bacteria. Water does not cause tooth discoloration like cola, coffee, or tea.
Get Your Teeth Cleaned
Professional cleaning by a dentist is important not just for the cleaning but also for the examination. We will take x-rays of your teeth, and we will be able to see weak spots on your enamel that may not be visible otherwise. We will also be able to see cracks, chips, or breaks that may be hard for you to see.
The cleaning is also important. We will remove plaque, but we will also remove any tartar that has built up along your gum line. Tartar is hardened plaque that can hold bacteria against your enamel, weakening it. It can also keep bacteria against your gums, causing gum disease.
Professional teeth cleanings are vital to great oral health, which is why you should schedule an appointment twice a year with Beaver and Broomfield Family Dentistry for teeth cleanings in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Get a Fluoride Treatment
Weakened enamel can be strengthened by a professional fluoride treatments from your dentist. We will coat your teeth in a special fluoride gel that will stay on your enamel and help strengthen the bond between minerals.
How to Protect Worn Enamel
What steps can you take to protect and restore your teeth if your enamel becomes worn, cracked, fractured, or decayed? Beavers and Broomfield Family Dentistry offers several restorative dentistry options to save your teeth.
- Dental bonding can fix cracks or small chips in your teeth. We apply a special resin and shape it to match the shape of your other teeth.
- A dental crown can cover a tooth with a larger crack or break, as well as a tooth that has decayed beyond what can be repaired by a simple filling.
- Veneers can cover several teeth and provide a more natural look. However, veneers require that a small amount of enamel be shaved off to make room for the veneers. This means once you get the veneers, you will need to keep veneers on your teeth from then on. You will need to replace the veneers when they have worn out in about 10-20 years.
These options can save your teeth and restore your smile if your enamel has become too weak or damaged.
Enamel Care in Fayetteville, AR
Whether you have weak enamel naturally or because of a tooth injury, Beavers and Broomfield Family Dentistry can help you protect your teeth.
Schedule an appointment for restorative dentistry in Fayetteville, AR. Let us show you the options available to strengthen your enamel and provide a smile to last a lifetime!
