What Wears Down Your Teeth? Part 3 of 3

As we are aware that our teeth are built to last a long time, Family Dentistry shares the factors that cause the teeth to wear out.  Our previous 2 blogs included the 2 factors that wear the teeth down which includes chipped, fractured, or broken teeth, and grinding the teeth.  The 3rd factor that wears out the teeth includes enamel erosion.  Enamel erosion occurs when acid in the mouth erodes enamel and making teeth prone to decay.  Acidic foods and drinks create this acidic environment in the mouth.  Also, medical conditions such as bulimia, chronic gastritis from alcoholism, frequent vomiting during pregnancy, or gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) will cause the enamel erosion on the teeth due to the high acidity in the mouth from these conditions.

What can be done to protect this enamel erosion is to avoid the over ingestion of acidic foods and drinks.  Also, contact doctor to aid in treating the bulimia, alcoholism, frequent vomiting, and the GERD.  Drs. Ogle, Schmitz, Hart, and Fickas will focus on your protection of the enamel on your teeth and if your enamel is in danger, recommendations will be given.  Family Dentistry wants to promote teeth for a lifetime and to eliminate the factors that can wear down the teeth.