How A Dentist Can Recognise Dental Erosion
Here are three photographs taken from patients diagnosed as suffering from dental erosion.
Picture Number 1
This picture shows a porcelain fused to metal crown on the upper right 2 tooth. Although the crown appears longer than the other teeth, it in fact is and was the correct length. It looks too long because the adjacent teeth have become shorter due to acid erosion effects. Going into more detail we can report on the following. Incisal edges of the upper left 1 tooth and the upper right 1 tooth surfaces appear grey. This grey appearance is commonly characteristic of enamel tooth substance loss. As that enamel thins down, the incisal edges which are already partially translucent and when the thickness of enamel decreases, the translucency increases and the reason for the appearance of the incisors looking grey. The surfaces of the upper left 1 tooth and the upper right 1 tooth appear yellow. This is because the overlying enamel has become fine due to tooth erosion. From the thinner layer of overlying enamel, the dentine becomes more apparent and we know that dentine has a distinct yellow colour. This explains why both of those two teeth appear more yellow. Looking at the upper left 1 tooth, on the buccal surface near the cervical margin, there is no enamel left at all. Furthermore, this exposes the softer dentine which is then more susceptible to abrasion and dental caries. The lower central incisors have chipped due to loss of enamel structure.
Picture Number 2
This is a picture of a patient's anterior teeth. It is a younger patient of 16 years age. This picture shows that all four conditions are present as dental erosion, attrition abrasion, dental caries and periodontal disease. Caries: There are extensive dental caries in the upper left 1 tooth mesially. The dental caries have infiltrated the dental pulp and a pulp polyp is now apparent. Needless to say, this tooth is non vital. The adjacent upper right one has secondary caries under and around the buccal composite restoration. The upper right 2 tooth has buccal caries around the cervical margin. There is also a front of demineralised enamel which has a white chalky appearance. The upper left 2 has secondary or recurrent caries around the restoration. Finally, there is marginal gingivitis due to a lack of inadequate oral hygiene measures. The patient was drinking 5 to 6 cans of Coca-Cola every single day. He would sit down on his gaming computer and sip coca cola continuously. Both his parents would be away at work and without any cooked meals he would just rely on snacks such as Mars bars and Milky way's. This trend contributed to his dental caries. He would play on his gaming computer until 4am in the morning and needless to say, he’d want to just go straight to bed as he could not be bothered to brush his teeth. In the morning, or rather in the afternoon, he would get up and give his teeth a 10-second brush and look for snacks for his breakfast. Sometimes during the day when his parents were out, one of his friends would come around with amphetamines and this also contributed to him grinding his teeth causing further damage to his teeth.