Worn Down Teeth

Dental bonding involves applying a tooth-colored composite resin to rebuild and reshape worn-down teeth directly in your mouth. This approach is a minimally invasive procedure and provides immediate results. It requires a lot of clinician skill to sculpt the teeth direct in the mouth and achieve a balanced bite - but luckily for you we have done this procedure hundreds of times before.

Benefits

• Quick and painless.
• Very cost-effective - about 25% of the cost of crowns.
• We can get the foundations of the bite right, and then you can convert to crowns slowly at your own pace. They can be adjusted if the bite isn't 100% right first go.
• You can wear them down so are more gentle to adapt to especially on the jaw joint.
• Reversible if your joint and muscle won't tolerate the build up.
• Restores natural appearance.
• Repairable.

Disadvantages

• You need to do most of the teeth in one or two sessions - you cannot build up the teeth one at a time.
• Composite filling is much softer material that is bonded to the tooth, therefore is very prone to wear, chipping and debonding. They also accumulate stain. If you don't convert them to crowns you will have to accept maintenance of the fillings as they chip and wear down. This can be reduced by wearing a splint at night.
• Fillings don't slow crack propagation as the material isn't strong enough to spread the forces evenly across the whole tooth and stop the tooth from flexing where the cracks are forming.

Dental crowns are an excellent option for severely worn teeth, offering full coverage and protection. Crowns are custom-crafted to fit over the entire tooth, restoring its shape, size, and strength.

Benefits:

• Much stronger than filling material.
• Protects against further wear or damage, spreads forces evenly over the remaining tooth structure.
• Long-lasting and durable, resistant to stain and fracture.
• Restores chewing function.

We use technology to track your wear. We take a full set of photos as well as digital scan of your teeth. If we take another scan in the future the software can actually tell us how much more tooth structure you have lost.

There is an underlying cause of the tooth wear - we will try to work with you to figure that out and what we can do about it. Splints are great if it is night-time grinding that is causing the loss of tooth structure.

Dental Splints (Night Guards)

If bruxism is contributing to your tooth wear, a custom-made bite guard can protect your teeth while you sleep. These devices reduce further damage from night-time clenching and grinding. It can also help relieve jaw pain and improve sleep quality.

If your wear is very uneven, we may give you the option of moving the teeth to recreate a more balanced bite. This treatment option can be used in conjunction with a build up, or sometimes instead of. Realigning your teeth ensures balanced pressure and protects against future damage.

Why Restore Worn Teeth?

Restoring worn-down teeth offers numerous benefits, including:

• Decompresses the jaw joint and lengthens the muscles to reduce the pressure.
• Gives us a good framework to work with for your future dental treatment. Opening your bite gives us more space for material which makes everything last longer.
• Improved appearance: Rebuild the shape and size of your teeth for a more youthful smile.
• Enhanced comfort: Alleviate sensitivity and discomfort caused by enamel loss.
• Better functionality: Restore your ability to chew and speak with ease.
• Prevention of further damage: Protect your teeth from additional wear and breakage.