What Do You Know About Enamel Erosion?

03 / 08 / 2018

What Do You Know About Enamel Erosion?

Our Ipswich Dentists Explain This Common Dental Problem.

The enamel on our teeth is very strong, and not only helps us to bite efficiently, but also protects the more vulnerable inner parts of the tooth from decay and infections. If we look after the enamel, the chances of needing dental treatment for other problems are greatly reduced. Despite this, it seems that there is a general lack of understanding about enamel erosion.

Because, unlike a break, for example, it can be hard to notice the visible signs of enamel erosion in its earlier stages, it is likely to continue until detected during a checkup at the Lighthouse Dental Practice. Although affected teeth can be restored using various dental techniques, it makes good sense to prevent the problem from occurring in the first place.

What Causes Enamel Erosion?

There are a number of factors that can lead to the thinning of the enamel of our teeth. These include:

• Drinking sports drinks – Despite the ‘health’ claims of some of these drinks, they contain very high amounts of sugars, albeit often natural sugars. Unfortunately, these are as tooth damaging as the most refined sugars.
• Constant snacking – Not leaving time between meals for your mouth to recover means that your teeth are bombarded with an almost constant supply of sugar. This provides additional ‘fuel’ for bacteria that produce acidic by-products.
• Bulimia – Whilst a serious medical issue in itself, regular vomiting also allows stomach acids to come into contact with our teeth. This is very corrosive and will quickly damage the enamel.
• Fruit and fruit drinks – Whilst offering some health benefits, natural fruits such as oranges are also very acidic, and when consumed in excess, will contribute to the erosion of the tooth enamel.
• Excess brushing – Brushing is good but don’t use too much pressure when doing so!

If you avoid the above and take good general care of your teeth, your protective enamel should remain healthy for much longer.

Problems caused by enamel erosion

If our local Ipswich patients do not follow the advice above, and also neglect their teeth generally, the following results may be noticed.

• Extra sensitivity of the teeth to both hot and cold
• Cracking of the enamel due to its weakness
• Increase in tooth decay as the dentin layer becomes less well protected
• Yellowing teeth as the darker layers below start to show through the thinner enamel.

Like almost all dental problems, treatment can largely be minimised with an improvement in personal care, and we are more than happy to answer any questions you might have about any aspect of your oral health. We also recommend seeing our hygienist regularly to help you on the journey to healthy teeth and gums. Appointments to see the dentist or hygienist at the Lighthouse Dental Practice can be made by calling us on 01473 257379.

We are here to help you
If you would like to speak to a member of our friendly team about any of the issues in this article please visit our contact page or call us on 01473 257379.