Our case of the month for February 2018 involves the treatment of tooth wear. Tooth wear is an increasing problem with modern day life. Stress, night time grinding and acidic diets all lead to loss of tooth enamel which is the hardest tissue in the body! The loss of tooth enamel leads to a weakening of the overall tooth structure exposing the underlying dentine which is much weaker and more susceptible to tooth decay and sensitivity. In the first instance, prevention is better than cure. Therefore, if you love acidic drinks and food, sorry, but you will have to change your diet. If you grind at night, a simple night guard will protect your teeth. 
 

Our case of the month for July involves the restoration of severe tooth wear using the Dahl technique.

The Dahl technique is a great concept for the treatment of localised tooth wear, especially on the front teeth. The concept involves potentially a number of methods but we prefer direct bonding. For example, if the upper front teeth are worn but there is no space to restore them, we may use the Dahl concept to restore them. Direct composite restorations are placed to restore the teeth to the original anatomy and contours. This is done very carefully in accordance to occlusal planning (bite). This will cause premature contact on the new restorations and create space between the upper and lower back teeth. However, over time, this space closes and the jaw re adjusts to create contact once more. This can take a number of months. Therefore this treatment is often completely non invasive. Whereas in the past, teeth were cut down to pegs for crowns and veneers to restore tooth wear, we can now use adhesive technology to replace the lost tooth tissue.
 

Our case of the month for May is one involving tooth wear. Tooth wear is a very common problem caused buy a number of factors and usually a combination of them all. The most common cause is night time grinding or bruxism. This can be hugely damaging to teeth. Did you know that on average our teeth make contact for only about 10-20 minutes of the day. During night grinding, the average contact time is 4 hours! It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out this is far too much contact which will lead to loss of tooth enamel. Just take a look at our case: