How can the dentist build up teeth that have been ground down

[AndyM]

My wife's is gradually grinding down her teeth to the point where she now hits the insides of her front teeth and is slowly pushing them out. She just had to have two crowns on one side to save the teeth since they were so worn and chipped. She was told from the dentist that he almost couldn't save one of the teeth.

The issue is her bite coming closer together because of her grinding, despite her mouth guard. If so much as a seed gets in her teeth, then she doesn't smack her front teeth any more when chewing. So for a fix, can't a dentist raise two crowns on each side of the mouth slightly by making slightly taller crowns. Would this have to happen to every tooth of the mouth or can it be done on just two or three on each side. I know there is the concern about too few crowns and you could chip the crowns but she is either going to chip her front teeth or push them out if something isn't done.

I am really annoyed that some dentists just want to Band-Aid the problem by putting crowns on the front teeth too! Two dentists have mentioned this. We want a fix and nobody seems to have a solution to slowly build teeth back up. If they did, they would be rich, guaranteed. So frustrating. I really wish I knew how to help return her bite/teeth close to how they were.

Thank you in advance for any advice you might have on this.

 

[Amed Abraham]

i think in that case there are 3 steps to try and get back to as normal condition as possible, The first is getting the gums to go back to where they belong and This is done with either a minor surgery or with braces. Occasionally, if the gums are not too bad, everything can be done in just one step and laser is used to make minor adjustments to the gums. The second step is to build back what was lost. This is done with all ceramic crowns or veneers. The final step is to protect what's been rebuilt/restored.

 

[Busybee]

Hi Andy, dentists are very conservative about rebuilding the bite because so much can go wrong. The important thing to understand is why the grinding is happening. Because if she has lots of dental restorations and continues to grind then she could end up in a lot of pain and break the restorations. Dental restorations do not feel the same as a natural tooth and they may cause other problems such as root failure.

It's really difficult for any dentist to rebuild the natural bite. But any specialist you see will want your wife to work on changing her grinding habit before they proceed with work. They will want to diagnose why the problem is happening. She should have a bite analysis with a specialist and then work out a treatment plan. It is very difficult to fix a bite problem. General dentists are not experts in this area. Nobody really is, but specialists understand it a bit better and can give you more options for treatment.

Going for radical treatment is dangerous because she could end up with bigger problems. This type of problem requires a well planned and careful approach. You could for example ask a dentist if they could build up some of the teeth with temporary filling material to give her an idea of how it feels. It's very hit and miss and she may not like the changes.

Doing this badly can affect the shape of the face, give you TMJ pain, pain in the neck and shoulders and lead to a viscious cycle of people trying to fix it. Go to a specialist or two. Get some advice.

 

[AndyM]

Thank you for the inputs. Yes, grinding is a difficult thing to find a cure for. I agree that this would be one avenue to tackle. Many people grind from when they were children. That is a needle in a haystack.

Still, we must somehow fix her bite. Even if she never grinds again, we now have a problem with her bite and her front teeth.

 

[Busybee]

A bite specialist should be able to diagnose why it's happening and recommend treatment options. You just need to be aware that there are risks with building up teeth or grinding them down. She may be uncomfortable with any changes and they tend to be irreversible.

 

[MattKW]

This is an increasing problem with ageing population. Crowns can be difficult because there may not be enough tooth left to hold it in place. I have seen patients snap through crowns at gum margin. Better option is to rebuild in composite all the teeth. Very cost-effective and good results. Can also be a test for possible usefulness of crowns later if desired, but I have not found the need for this in my rebuilds yet. Also need to assess rest of teeth; if your wife only has front teeth, then it would help to look at replacement back teeth to spread the chewing, be this by dentures, bridges, or implants.