Are my teeth getting shorter?

Have you ever looked at old photographs of yourself and noticed that your teeth don’t look as long or white as they used to be? Noticing that your teeth are starting to look a lot like grandad’s short straight edged teeth or grandma’s dentures?

The hard white layer of teeth called dental enamel can wear at the rate of about 1mm every decade. As a result the sharp pointy or “bumps” on the biting edges of your teeth can wear down and appear flat and worn.

Everyday wear and tear from biting, chewing, eating can lead to gradual thinning and wearing down of tooth structure. There are further factors such as teeth grinding (attrition), dehydration, gastric reflux, highly sugary/acidic diet cold and energy drinks causing acid erosion can be factors that can contribute to and accelerate tooth wear.

Other factors such as dental sensitivity can occur when the protective layer of of our is worn away exposing the softer porous sensitive layer of dentine which is naturally more yellow than the relatively whiter and harder enamel.

It’s not uncommon to find tooth wear most severely around the gumline where naturally we may think that brushing harder to clean the darker area of our teeth will help make it look less yellow. Unfortunately this less hard material can wear further – abrasion.

Are you starting to notice clean shiny dents around the gumline of your teeth? Can you feel them with the edge of your finger nail? It’s not too late to take preventive measures to prevent these areas from wearing further.

Cut down acidic food/drink. See your medical physician for a solution for your gastric reflux. Rinse your mouth with water/milk/baking soda to neutralise acidic fluids that can erode the protective layer of your teeth.

Do you think you’re grinding your teeth? The flat appearance of the previously pointy tips of your teeth could be from your upper teeth constantly grinding against your lower teeth and wearing the enamel away like sandpaper. This can make your teeth look a lot shorter and more yellow after the white enamel layer has worn off.

In many cases there are ways to restore teeth to improve the appearance and function, but this relies on the amount of healthy tooth structure left to build on.

Early detection and management of tooth wear can help preserve your teeth for many years to come.

Your Eve Dental Dentist can assess your risk factors which may be causing tooth wear. We can help you minimise problems and offer solutions to preserve your teeth so that your teeth can live to smile another day.

Call us on 9808 5252 for more information. Alternatively you can email info@evedental.com.au or come in for a chat.