It’s very common to see white chalky spots on adult front teeth, somewhere between 25-40% prevalence (Oral Health, January 2017). They occur on back teeth also, but are not considered a cosmetic problem where they can’t be seen. I’m always asked what caused them. Sometimes, they occur naturally (those would be small spots that are less than 0.5mm in diameter) and other times they are a result of something interrupting enamel formation during development such as trauma to baby teeth ( white patches), fever during tooth development or even ingesting too much flouride ( those would be multiple brown and white discolourations). White chalky areas can also be the early sign of decalcification, the first step in developing a cavity (common when braces are removed and the patient didn’t keep as clean as he/she should have). There is even a correlation between white spots and preterm births. There are multiple ways to try and treat these eg. tooth whitening, micro abrasion and/or resin infiltration or direct bonding.
I don’t want to bore you with the technical aspects of those treatment options. Suffice it to say that every case is different and if you hate those white spots, there’s most likely something that can be done to make things look better.
– Dr. Jay Rabinovich