Enamel on front teeth wearing away

lolly5648

The enamel on my teeth seems to be translucent and wearing away, probably from have pure fruit juice lollies. My dentist just told me to stop drinking fruit juices and eating citrus fruits.

So is there anything I can do? Do these new toothpastes help - like Pronamel, - or are they a waste or money? Is there anything that can be painted onto the teeth to protect them or must I give up my vitamen c?

infernalaffairs

Hi, Have you tried 'BlanX BioRepair Total Protection Toothpaste'. I don't know if its any good. Boots sell it.

Toothsmith

lolly5648 wrote: »

The enamel on my teeth seems to be translucent and wearing away, probably from have pure fruit juice lollies. My dentist just told me to stop drinking fruit juices and eating citrus fruits.

So is there anything I can do? Do these new toothpastes help - like Pronamel, - or are they a waste or money? Is there anything that can be painted onto the teeth to protect them or must I give up my vitamen c?

Everything in moderation.

It's the frequency that you are having these acidic snacks and drinks that will be doing the damage.

There are other sources of vitamin C. Green vegetables are particularly good, and not acidic at all. But the Vit C is not really the issue! It's 'cos you LIKE fruit and fruit juices!!

The proenamel toothpastes may help, but will be just a waste of money unless the causes of the erosion are addressed.

angel

Buy a soft toothbrush and brush very, very slowly and gently! That's what I do, it helps with receding gums too!

lolly5648

"There are other sources of vitamin C. Green vegetables are particularly good, and not acidic at all. But the Vit C is not really the issue! It's 'cos you LIKE fruit and fruit juices!!"

Thanks Toothsmith, yes I really do love fruit and eat far more than the 5 portions a day - I definitely wont suffer with scurvey!

I knew that would be the answer but keep hoping that someone will come up with something new that will provide a barrier so that the enamel wont erode.

Jennifer_Jane

Me too, but made worse by heavy toothgrinding. Dentist recommended stopping the citrus for a while; brushing with Sensodyne (I chose to use Pronamel, which is expensive); using a toothguard (grrrr); wiping the Sensodyne on the particularly sensitive teeth with a finger.

I have been used to buying fruit juices in 5-litre boxes, and for getting my five a day! I understood it was the tooth-grinding that was the main problem. Hope this helps.

angel

Jennifer_Jane wrote: »

using a toothguard (grrrr);

I just LOVE my guard and I can't sleep without it now. I love the way that my teeth grit together and feel all spongy and protected!

lowbudgetlife

To be honest, I think we all should take oral health WAAY more seriously - the mouth is a major entry point for lurgies to enter our bodies and provides plenty of place for bit of gunk to get lodged, hide and grow bacteria.
In fact, the direct action of acid on the teeth is probably less important than what bacteria are built up in the mouth and general nutrition.

Sadly, there's still a lot of dentists who just drill and fill and oral health is reduced to brushing with a fancy toothpaste and avoiding sugary snacks. Tooth and gums decay because they're infected in the same way other parts of our bodies are infected. We wouldn't accept infections of the arm, leg or ear in the same blaze way.

One fairly good dentist told me that two dark brown spots on a tooth were nothing to worry about as the 'teeth had remineralised after some decay'.

Up until that point I thought decay and enamal loss never reversed. It also explained why my old family dentist (the last time I saw him before leaving home) said I had some little carries but 'we'd do them next time'. Those carries were never filled! Aside from a cracked deep-filling that led to a root canal (so partially just bad luck, although I'd been slack in not seeing a dentist for four years) my three other three fillings must've been there since I was 13 or 14 (i'm now nearly thirty).

While big, sensitive cavities are probably beyond the pale and need filling, if your teeth are just a bit sensitive or the enamal looks a bit shabby I'd look at rebuilding them with natural remineralization - wholefoods diet rich in minerals, good natural mouthwashes and hot salt rinses to reduce bacterial load, using a WaterPik and plenty of flossing with tape and a quality electric toothbrush used thoroughly but not excessively.

While we'll all have some dental mishaps in our lives, the idea that we all have to get to middle age with loads of teeth filled, crowned, root canalled, extracted, bridged, etc. isn't true.