Types, clinical features, Causes and its prevention
Non-carious loss of the tooth structure is a problem that is
often found in senior citizens and is a cause of many complaints.
It is not a new entity but has acquired more attention in recent time.
Types of tooth wear
- Abrasion
- Attrition
- Erosion
- Demastication
- Abfraction
Abrasion
It is loss of tooth substance by the friction with a second object in the presence of an abrasive material.
The cavity formed due to abrasion are smooth and usually C shaped; more wider than deeper.
Clinical Features
These are usually facio-cervical concavities that are more broad than deep and can be associated with an abrasive diet. They are usually found on prominent teeth in the arch (i.e., canines, premolars, and mesio-buccal aspects of the first molars).
They may affect several teeth in a row with a “band” of abrasive damage.
Sometime they may cause increased hypersensitivity.
Causes of Abrasion
It is mostly located in the cervical area of the teeth. The reason may be one or a combination of following factors:
- Excessive tooth brushing for longer period
- Use of hard tooth brush
- Use of tooth paste containing highly abrasive material
- Use of locally prepared tooth cleaning powder or paste like Gul, Gulak or Lal Manjan (in India)
- Repeatedly putting foreign objects in the mouth like pipe smoking, pen, bobby pins and any other occupational material.
Prevention of Abrasion
Use of common sense is the best way of preventing the abrasion.
If the cause is a hard tooth brush or brushing of the teeth for a longer duration or use of an excessively abrasive tooth paste, then correcting the hardness of the tooth brush, adjusting the duration of brushing, and changing the tooth paste will be sufficient.
If the cause is abrasive food or any occupational factor, this may be difficult to treat but not impossible.
Treatment of Abrasion of the teeth