Tooth advice!!

jollie32

Help, I need advice.

I have been told for the last few years by my dentist to be aware when brushing my teeth that I am scrubbing hard and he can see signs of this. I now have some abrasion damage to my enamel on each canine tooth (4th back from front) which I am very self-conscious about. I have had these filled but they just popped back out. My dentist says they are so tiny and not to worry about it but I can see over the months each one getting bigger and have read it will get worse if I don't have it filled.

I have also noticed that my 2 front teeth look as if they have a horizontal line drawn halfway down. This means they are white on the top half and grey at the bottom. I used to drink diet coke constantly and am sure I am now paying the price and this is acid erosion damage. I know this can't be altered but am extremely careful now not to make this any worse.

I use an electric toothbrush and floss and mouthwash (non alcohol)religiously! Does anyone know if these teeth will continue to worsen now that I am being careful or if they will just remain like this?
Do you think I should leave them as they are or possibly have veneers or crowns? Or just wait and see if they worsen. I am a 38 yr female.

My dentist doesn't think I have enamel damage to my front two but if I point it out to people and ask their opinion they can see it as well. I am becoming very paranoid! My dentist thinks I should just have them whitened, he assessed my teeth to be shade A2 which he said is quite bright but to me they look very yellow (I read they should match the whites of your eyes). One of my front teeth is already root filled when I was 10 from an accident so has always been darker. I want a nice healthy smile!

Sorry to ramble..............

Toothsmith

Go with what your dentist recommends.

You are looking at your teeth much much much more closely that anyone else will ever see them.

If you look at crowns or veneers that closely they will look even more rubbish than your teeth do at the moment. Plus - you will have sacrificed a lot of money and, more importantly, a lot of perfectly healthy tooth in order to get them.

One possible thing to consider that you don't report that your dentist has discussed with you:- Could the 'wear' at the gum end of the tooth be due to tooth grinding? Tooth grinding can cause these little notches to appear in the places you describe due to very small 'bending' forces on the teeth.

Ask your dentist about the possibility of that. A simple night bite guard could stop it getting any worse.

It might easily be tooth brush wear though. Your dentist's opinion is worth more than mine as he has the advantage of actually seeing your teeth.

I'm very glad he's not someone who exploits your insecurities about your teeth by suggesting all sorts of 'cosmetic' rubbish though!

jollie32

Thank you for your reply.

My dentist did mention grinding but this isn't the cause.

I think I will sit tight and hopefully by cutting out all the nasty things I used to do ie. diet coke, smoking (in my younger years) etc. hopefully I will have halted the progress. Do you think though it will carry on deteriorating or that I can stop any further damage now?

Sorry, can I ask your advice - would you get them whitened with the tray system as the dentist recommended as an option when I said I was concerned about the colour? Is A2 a bad colour or what can I hope to achieve? And last question (promise!) will it whiten my dead front tooth as she said as I always thought this wasn't possible with normal whitening.

Thank you so much any advice is much appreciated to stop me fretting!!!:T

Toothsmith

The tray system is by far the most reliable way of getting your teeth whitened.

A2 is an ideal colour. Right up at the lightest end of the shade guide without being too false. A bit of whitening will do you no harm though (unlike veneers!) if you really want them whiter.

There are techniques that will whiten the dead one as well (I assume it's been root filled already). Generally it involves taking out the filling that covers up the root filing so the gel can get inside the tooth as well. Your dentist is better placed to advise you on this though.

As for the carry on deteriorating/stopping question, only your dentist can answer that one.

jollie32

Thank you Toothsmith, you've been ever so helpful and it is very much appreciated

welshdent

I would say A2 is "normal" The vast majority of white fillings I do are either A2 or A3.

theteethguys

Toothsmith wrote: »

The tray system is by far the most reliable way of getting your teeth whitened.

True, but...

It can get messy. And you lose any and all function of your mouth while you are using trays. That's the downside of trays. They're also ideal if you're doing a drastic whitening. If it's only 1-2 shades, try a pen or a strips system.

brook2jack

There are no pen systems licensed for use in the uk other than useless products that give a tippex like appearance.

For your problems strips would also be useless and possibly make things worse.

Use the advice of the dentist who can actually see you as teeth with this type of enamel loss can be very sensitive with whitening and a tray system allows you to alternate with sensitivity treatments.

I sense a round pink reformed meat moment from above posters.

welshdent

theteethguys wrote: »

True, but...

It can get messy. And you lose any and all function of your mouth while you are using trays. That's the downside of trays. They're also ideal if you're doing a drastic whitening. If it's only 1-2 shades, try a pen or a strips system.

I use the tray system myself and have never found it messy. Also losing function for a couple of hours out of your life isnt exactly a massive inconvenience especially if you are doing it to achieve a cosmetic result. Compare that to "in house" and you have your mouth open for an hour under a dam to get a result that may not work anyway.