Detailed information on kidney stones, including types causes, symptoms, diagnosis, prevention and treatment from Kidney Stone Types blog. Learn about the types of kidney stones including calcium stones, cystine stones, uric acid stones and struvite stones. Citrate keeps tiny crystals from joining together to form bigger ones. Citric acid helps prevent calcium-containing stones. It does not help prevent other stone types such as uric acid stones. The more citrate you have in your urine, the more protected you are from calcium kidney stones.