Icon resin infiltration is a dental treatment used to stop the progression of early tooth decay (cavities) and improve the appearance of white spots on teeth. These white spots can be due to fluorosis (excessive intake of fluoride), after orthodontic treatment, or are signs of early tooth decay.
Here’s a simple way to understand how Icon resin infiltration treatment works:
1. Preparation: First, we will clean your teeth thoroughly. This step is important to make sure that the resin can bond properly to your teeth.
2. Conditioning: The dentist will then apply a gel to the area of your tooth that has the white spots or early decay. This gel is acidic and it helps to open up the pores in your tooth enamel, making it easier for the resin to penetrate into your tooth.
3. Rinsing and Drying: After the gel has had enough time to work (usually a few minutes), it will be rinsed off and your tooth will be dried.
4. Resin Application: Next, the dentist will apply the resin. This is a special type of material that can penetrate into the pores of your tooth that were opened up by the gel. This resin is clear, so once it hardens, it helps the white spots blend in with the rest of your tooth. If the treatment is for early decay, the resin fills in the area of decay and effectively stops it from getting worse.
5. Curing: The resin is then hardened, or “cured,” using a special light. This process helps to ensure that the resin is firmly bonded to your tooth.
6. Polishing: Finally, we will polish the treated area to smooth out the resin and make sure it blends in with the rest of your tooth.
The main benefit of Icon resin infiltration is that it’s minimally invasive – that means it doesn’t require drilling or numbing. It can be a great option if you have early tooth decay or unsightly white spots on your teeth, but as with any dental treatment, it’s important to discuss all the pros and cons to treatment.
The color of our teeth, or more specifically the way our teeth reflect light, is a significant factor in their appearance.
In healthy teeth, light penetrates the enamel (the outer layer of the tooth) and is reflected back by the dentin (the layer beneath the enamel). This reflection gives teeth their characteristic color. The enamel itself is semi-transparent and has a very smooth and hard surface, which helps light pass through it easily.
White spot lesions, which can occur due to early decay or other causes, disrupt this process. The lesions change the structure of the enamel, creating tiny pores or spaces. When light hits these areas, it’s scattered and reflected directly off the enamel, rather than penetrating through to the dentin. This scattering of light gives the white spots their noticeable appearance.
Icon resin infiltration works by filling in these tiny pores or spaces within the enamel. The resin used in this treatment has similar optical properties to natural tooth enamel, which means it allows light to pass through in the same way. By filling in the spaces, the resin restores the smooth surface of the enamel and allows light to penetrate and reflect as it would in a healthy tooth. This results in the white spots blending in with the rest of the tooth, as they no longer scatter light and appear whiter than the surrounding areas.
So, in essence, Icon resin infiltration treats white spot lesions by restoring the enamel’s ability to transmit light in the same way as the surrounding healthy tooth structure, thus minimizing the appearance of the lesions.
