In this video, Melbourne dental surgeon Dr George Olstein discusses the impact of tooth wear and tooth erosion on the health of your teeth.

Teeth are a combination of living and non-living material. The enamel, which is the first layer of our teeth is actually a non-living material and it is the hardest substance in the animal kingdom. The layer behind the enamel, the dentine, is a living material as it lives off the pulp, which is contained in the root canal.

The process of ageing causes our teeth to slowly break down. The pressures of biting and occasional tooth contact can cause the enamel to wear down.

There is no universal guide as to what constitutes ‘normal wear’ but as a guide the teeth (enamel and dentine) should break down at a rate that is equal to the rate at which we are ageing.

If the breakdown is outpacing the ageing, there may be factors contributing to the tooth wear such as teeth grinding, foreign object contact and erosion from acidic food and beverages.

свернуть