Tooth Wear

With people keeping their natural teeth for longer come the problem of tooth wear. Tooth wear is where you natural teeth are abraded or dissolved due to: grinding, acid erosion, acid reflux, clenching & abrasion on old ceramic crowns. Tooth wear if left untreated can cause nerve problems in the worn teeth, collapse of the bite and aesthetic problems where the teeth seem to disappear under the lips giving a toothless look.

Tooth wear can be controlled by the use of night splints and addressing the causes. Often multiple teeth require crowns, veneers or implants and the bite needs reconstruction. A prosthodontist is a specialist in this difficult area of dentistry. Below are three example cases treated by Dr. Fitzgerald, one caused by gastric reflux of acid (top & Middle) and one by night grinding (bottom).