Erosive tooth wear is a loss or wear of dental enamel by acid and not by bacteria. It can be caused by acid reflux, excessive vomiting and even diet. Once the erosion has taken place it is irreversible and the soft tissue, dentin will be exposed.

The exposed dentin will make the patient’s tooth yellow and aesthetically unpleasant. But it can cause the individual hypersensitive and eventually lose the erosive tooth down the track. There are a few dentists in Darling Harbour which are able to help locate the cause of this issue.

The two causes for erosive teeth are intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Intrinsic factors are the result of stomach acid being introduced to the mouth. The frequent gastric acid from reflux caused by regurgitation after meals and can even happen during sleep will slowly break down the hard tissue enamel. Other health related intrinsic acids are bulimia and pregnancy, when frequent vomiting occurs eroding the teeth along the way.

Extrinsic factors that can cause dental erosion are diet, lifestyle or occupational factors that can be exposed to teeth acid. For diet, the biggest cause for this is beverages. Soft drinks, sports drinks and fruit juices have low PH values, so frequent consumption for these drinks will become a risk for tooth erosion. Lifestyle which links closely with diet is a choice of drinking those highly acidic drinks or excessive use of vinegar base food.

Also strenuous exercise can cause dehydration which links to the risk of erosion. While occupational risk could be airborne industrial acid where factory workers in battery and fertilizer plants are more prone to tooth erosion. Swimmers are also on the list for occupational risk, if the chlorine swimming pools are poorly monitored the lowered PH balance in the water can erode the teeth.

Since tooth erosion is heavy based on lifestyle and diet contribution, it is important to prevent and reduce the cause of this issue. A visit to a dentist near Darling Harbour could help manage and focus on intervening this irreversible outcome. Otherwise the Darling Harbour dentist will have to plan a restorative treatment plan to move forward.