When it comes to maintaining long-term dental health, it is always a good idea to keep your real, natural teeth as healthy and strong as you can for as long as possible. When your teeth start to become cracked and chipped, the overall structure of your smile is undermined.
Our Saint Louis cosmetic dentist office wants to help you understand how and why dental damage pops up, so that you can do everything possible to avoid these common problems.
So let’s start by talking about the unfortunate things that can happen to dental enamel.
Enamel may become:
· Pitted
· Cracked
· Chipped
· Worn away
These kinds of problems commonly occur because:
· Something hits or crashes into dental enamel—this commonly happens when a patient is in a car accident, or takes part in extreme/contact sports
· Your dental enamel is subjected to intense pressure over a long period of time—the most common cause of this is bruxism (a condition in which someone grinds and clenches his or her teeth)
· Your dental enamel is weakened by bacteria or substance–related-acid, causing portions of your enamel to become destabilized
There are some key things that you can do to protect your smile every day. For example, when you clean your teeth as recommended by your dentist, you help to minimize bacteria-related acid. You can also rinse your mouth with water throughout the day to clear away environmental acid that may be sitting on your teeth.
Make sure that you wear protective mouth gear whenever you are taking part in an extreme or contact sport. If you suffer from bruxism, you may also benefit from wearing a mouthpiece when you sleep, so that you do not grind your teeth together.
Taking these simple steps now can pay off dividends in the future. So call our Saint Louis cosmetic dentist office to touch base with our friendly dental team!