Neck wear - a common but easily overlooked dental disease

This is an automatically translated article.

The article was professionally consulted by Master, Doctor Lai Do Quyen - Doctor of Dental - Jaw - Facial - Inter-specialty Department - Vinmec Times City International Hospital

Wear neck teeth not only make the teeth lose aesthetics, not confident when smiling, but also cause discomfort, making chewing and oral hygiene difficult, causing teeth to be broken or even lost tooth. Timely detection and treatment will preserve the tooth and avoid complications.

1. What is cervical wear?

Neck wear is a condition where the hard tissue in the neck area of ​​the tooth is lost. The hard organization of the tooth consists of enamel and dentin. Neck wear can lead to loss of enamel or both enamel and dentin.
When enamel and dentin are lost, they are not naturally replaced.

2. Causes of tooth neck wear

Unlike diseases of the teeth, which are often caused by bacteria, the cause of tooth wear is mainly from unscientific oral hygiene habits and unreasonable diet of the patient.
Brushing the wrong way: brushing too hard, using a hard brush to rub the surface of the teeth will cause the hard organization of the teeth to be worn away quickly. Brushing in the horizontal direction also makes the gums easy to drop low, exposing the roots, the position of the tooth neck to the root is only covered by dentin layer, there is no protective hard enamel layer, so when the gums recede, the tooth neck is easily damaged. wear and wear rate will be faster. Keep oral hygiene is not clean: food remains on the surface of the teeth adjacent to the gums and in between the teeth, for a long time the food will turn into an acidic environment that causes tooth neck wear. Habit of using foods that are too acidic for a continuous period of time. Exposure to acid and carbonated soft drinks: statistics show that: workers exposed to acidic vapors and dust (manufacturing lead batteries, ...) have severe neck wear. Carbonated soft drinks such as cocacola, sprite, ... with low acidity also easily cause tooth wear.

Teeth that are crooked, crowded: the gums covered in misaligned teeth are thinner than in other teeth, so the gums are easy to recede and wear down the neck of the teeth. Abnormal bite. Teeth are subjected to unnecessary bending force at the neck of the tooth due to many reasons. Habit of chewing and grinding food. Genetic factors: cause disorders to form hard tissues of teeth, making teeth "softer" and teeth prone to wear. Systemic diseases or side effects of medications.

3. Manifestations of tooth neck wear

At first, cervical wear is just a small groove in the neck of the tooth close to the gums, which can be detected by eye or by examination instruments. You don't feel any stinging, pain or any discomfort.
In the next stage, the groove becomes larger and becomes V-shaped. You will find that your teeth are sensitive when eating hot, cold, sour foods, breathing in the wind or when brushing your teeth. Painful discomfort affects eating, chewing and daily activities. The gums can be lowered, the roots of the teeth are more exposed, you are more sensitive to the teeth and the teeth are less aesthetic. Food can be stuck in the groove, stimulating red, inflamed gums, bleeding, bad breath.

If you ignore or are not treated, the worn part touches the pulp, you will be in pain. If the tooth pulp dies, it will cause inflammation in the apical area of ​​the root (root area), swollen, pus-filled gums, painful, and loose teeth. If the wear is too deep, the tooth can be fractured transversely. The gums recede a lot, the roots of the teeth are exposed a lot. Serious impact on oral health and the whole body.

4. Why is it important to treat tooth neck wear?

As mentioned above, cervical wear is a common dental disease that is easily overlooked. Patients only come to seek treatment when they feel uncomfortable or swollen gums. At that time, it is possible that the condition of the teeth is already bad and the treatment to keep the teeth is very limited.
Early detection and treatment of cervical wear disease brings many benefits:
Avoiding complications of cervical wear: tooth decay, dead pulp, infection of the root canal, broken teeth,... causing bad effects to whole body health. No more feeling of sensitivity, discomfort when eating or living due to wear and tear of the tooth neck. Avoid bad breath, red gums, swelling, bleeding due to food stuck in the neck crevices. More aesthetic teeth. Lower treatment costs.

5. How to cure tooth neck wear?

Dental experts all assess that wear and tear of the neck is curable and not difficult. The treatment is only really difficult to solve when the erosion destroys many tooth structures, causing pulp death, infection of the root canal or tooth fracture. Therefore, as soon as you detect signs of tooth wear and sensitivity, you need to quickly go to the dentist for early treatment.
In the early stage: cervical wear is a small or larger gap in the shape of a V but has not yet affected the tooth pulp. Treatment is: the dentist will remove all diseased tissue, use a filling material that is compatible with the tooth structure and has the same color as the tooth to fill the gap. The filling of the teeth both compensates for the missing teeth, protects the teeth, eliminates tooth sensitivity, and ensures the aesthetics of the teeth.

At the later stage: when the pulp has been affected causing pain, inflammation in the root area or fracture across the crown. Treatment is: root canal treatment, re-creation of the crown with fillings and the tooth needs to be covered with a crown to protect the tooth.

6. Some suggestions to help you prevent neck wear:

You should change your daily oral hygiene habits: use a soft-bristled toothbrush; Use Fluoride toothpaste to brush your teeth; brush teeth vertically or in a circular motion; brush teeth slowly and gently, do not rub hard on the tooth surface; Brush the inside, outside and top of all teeth. Proper brushing will help clean teeth, gently massage the gum area close to the teeth to help increase blood circulation for the gums, making gums healthy without causing gum recession. But just brushing your teeth is not enough. Combining proper brushing and flossing to clean between teeth is the most effective method of teeth cleaning. You should avoid snacking, eat a lot of hard, chewy foods. You should limit the use of foods that are too sour, sweet, and carbonated. You should carefully ask your treating doctor about the side effects of the drug on your teeth, salivation in the mouth,... You should schedule a regular dental check-up every 6 months to remove tartar and plaque. on the tooth surface and make appropriate adjustments for their teeth. You should follow the advice of your dentist.

Neck wear is a common disease but easy to ignore, treatment is not difficult and achieves high aesthetics if detected and treated early. I hope that each of us is our own dentist, listens to ourselves and detects even the smallest signs in our teeth, visits regularly for consultation with a dentist so that everyone has beautiful teeth, strong.
To register for examination and treatment at Vinmec International General Hospital, you can contact Vinmec Health System nationwide, or register online HERE
MORE:
When to bleach tooth? Causes and effects of crowded teeth How to deal with tooth sensitivity