Many adults find that their front teeth are wearing down, getting thin, or even chipping away. The cause of these problems is not what you eat, chewing ice, or those pencils you hold in your mouth. More likely it is unconscious, usually nocturnal movements of your lower jaw called bruxism, sometimes called “night grinding”. The cause may be that your back teeth do not fit together properly! It may be caused by brain waves, or it may even be associated with R.E.M. sleep patterns. There may be headaches, sore muscles, or jaw joint pain associated with the tooth destruction from bruxism. If a long-term solution is desired, proper diagnosis of the type of bruxism that exists is required before your teeth are repaired. This diagnosis may require a combination of a careful history, muscle and jaw joint examination, radiographs, impressions for models, mounting these models on a simulator, or even temporary fillings or provisional restorations. What can you do about the short teeth? There are many solutions to this part of the treatment. The key is to diagnose the reason that the teeth became short in the first place. If this is not properly diagnosed, the new work will fail. Bonding, tissue recontouring, veneers and orthodontics are all tools we have to make your front teeth look their original length.
Advanced Aesthetic and Restorative Dentistry