Protecting Your Smile from Enamel Erosion

Why is tooth enamel important?

Enamel helps protect your teeth from daily use such as chewing, biting, crunching, and grinding. This tough shell is the hardest tissue in the human body even tougher than bone and acts as the first line of defense in protecting teeth from exposure to chemicals and acids from our body and foods. This constant exposure can cause wear and enamel can erode or chip and crack. Enamel also insulates the teeth from potentially painful temperatures and chemicals.

What is enamel erosion?

Tooth erosion occurs when excess acid wears away the tooth enamel. Enamel erosion occurs when acids slowly wear away the enamel on your teeth. This is a problem since enamel does not have living cells to allow your body to regenerate it, unlike a broken bone, the body cannot repair chipped or cracked enamel.

What causes enamel erosion?

There are many causes of erosion though mostly it comes down to acid levels in the mouth through exposure to acids or physical damage to the enamel through teeth grinding. Unfortunately once your enamel is lost you can not rebuild it. It is vital to teach dental hygiene from a young age to keep your enamel strong.

Have no fear, there are a few ways to ensure your enamel is safe from erosion. Fluoride is effective in preventing cavities and tooth decay and in preventing plaque from building up and hardening on the tooth’s surface (which can compromise enamel) . A fluoride treatment in your dentist’s office takes just a few minutes. Remember to cut down on acidic foods and drinks and brush softly!

Visiting your family dentist in Grand PrairieContact Us Thank You on a regular basis is an important step to maintaining healthy tooth enamel.