Why does my lower front tooth feel rough all of a sudden?

Lower incisors tend to get a lot of wear over the course of a lifetime. Many people, especially when their heads tilt forward, tend to rest the edges of the lower anteriors against the edges of their maxillary anteriors.  This can happen at night while sleeping and I often recommend patients wear a night guard when I see moderate wear on lower anteriors.

When wear occurs, eventually the covering of enamel on the incisal edge of lower teeth can disappear, leaving an area of dentin sandwiched in between two strips of enamel (on the buccal and the lingual) . When this happens, the enamel is a little bit like a veneer over  dentin and with the proper amount of focal pressure it can sheer off, leaving a roughened portion of dentin exposed. Usually this occurs on the lingual surface and can be easily fixed using some bonded composite to restore the tooth surface and make it feel smooth again. The good news is this procedure usually does not require anesthesia and can be accomplished in less than 30 minutes.

Yesterday, a patient came in with a chipped lingual surface on one of his lower central incisors and I repaired it nicely and afterwards he asked if he had any restrictions. I explained that nail biting was out. He showed me a perfectly manicured set of finger nails and he said " no way am I going to stop biting these nails!". Ok, I explained  he should try using different lower incisors to perform his nail grooming in the future or try using a nail clipper instead.

from Ask Dr. Spindel - http://lspindelnycdds.blogspot.com/2018/01/why-does-my-lower-front-tooth-feel.html - http://lspindelnycdds.blogspot.com/

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Help! My Child is Terrified of the Dentist

Image
If you’re the parent of a young child, you know their brains are similar to sponges that soak up everything around them—especially in their first five years, which neuroscientists say is when they’ll do the most learning and developing in their entire life. At this formative time, your child may amaze you with what they notice: your facial expressions, the different tones of your voice, and your habits. If your habits include regular dental visits and an excellent oral hygiene routine, they’ll notice and want to emulate you. If you happen to feel anxious about your dental visits, or you groan when you’ve got to floss and brush, they may synchronize and feel your dread. This could lead to dental fears that stick with them for years—potentially a lifetime! Kids Can Be Courageous If you’re feeling guilty right now, go ahead and put that away as it won’t serve you or your little one. Everyone has some room for improvement, and Coastal Pediatric Dentistry® is here to help show you an
Read more

Going for the Gold?

Image
On the left is the older allow, on the right the new one that my lab has chosen to use The cost of a penny weight of pure gold is currently $79.53. The cost of a penny weight of pure palladium is $130.6. It used to be that palladium was added instead of gold to the precious metals often used for pfms, but now laboratories are finding that palladium is no longer affordable. The lab that I am using has just changed the formulation of the metal it's using to one that has more gold than palladium. I really do not mind, but metals with more gold are softer and often easier for a dentist to accidentally polish off delicate margins. It is important when polishing "higher gold" formulations to exert less hand pressure when performing the final polishing of the crown's margins. Other wise there should be no problem with this change. Traditionally labs have chosen alloys with higher gold percentages for optimal esthetics, since alloys with higher concentrations of
Read more

Tongue Ties: What Parents Need to Know

Image
For a long time, people just didn’t seem to know much about tongue ties. In the early years of my practice, few of my patients had ever heard of a tongue tie. When I pointed out that they or their children might be tongue tied, I was often the very first practitioner who’d mentioned it to them. When I told them that a tongue tie might actually be the root cause of their oral myofunctional issues, or even their sleep apnea , I’m sure that some of them thought I was crazy. But in the last few years, things have changed so much! Initially, there was a small increase in the number of patients who were contacting me specifically about tongue ties. Dentists and orthodontists also began reaching out more frequently to discuss the application of myofunctional therapy exercises to tongue tie treatment. But in the last year or so, that little bit of interest has become a surge of awareness. Tongue ties and their effects on health and craniofacial development are finally becoming mainstream.
Read more