Enamel eroding

I've had a situation for many years now where my enamel on my teeth is eroding and it has baffled several dentists that have seen me. They ask if I have a habit of sucking on lemons or vomiting a lot; neither apply to me. I eat a plant-based whole foods diet- no soda or candy.They tell me it is very odd and they can't explain it.  My lower teeth seem to be more affected and the pattern is that it starts at the base on the outside of the tooth near the gum line and then erodes away to the point where it makes a hole, which I have to then get filled with a resin because it is so sensitive. It has also eroded away on the tops of my lower front teeth so that they are now jagged-looking and also on the back of the teeth as well, so I am now faced with getting crowns on my lower front teeth. I thought it might be a side effect of taking birth control medication or some vitamin deficiency (magnesium?). I stopped taking the pill about a year ago and have made sure to take vitamin supplements as well, but that hasn't seemed to stop the progression.

[Jerome Tsang, DDS]

Do you suffer from dry mouth?  Whats the frequency on your diet?  Sometimes frequent eating can cause more acid exposure.  Frequent juices or sugar beverages at all?  When did it start?  Has it always been there since childhood?  

[Sunnieyes2]

From what I read about symptoms for dry mouth, I do have some mild symptoms and I remember times in the past when they were more pronounced. I don't have any mouth sores or difficulty speaking, swallowing or a raw tongue, but I do often have dry lips for which I am always using chap stick do sometimes have a somewhat sticky feeling in my mouth and not too much saliva.

I eat three meals a day. I almost always drink just water. Very few juices or soda or anything else really (about once a month). I recently started drinking bottled water with a higher pH because I tested my tap water and it was quite acidic (5.5).

I started noticing sensitivity in my teeth in 1995, about a year after I started taking the pill. And while it's a bit difficult to remember, seemed to be about the time when I started getting more pronounced symptoms of the dry mouth.

I think you are on the right track with this.

[Jerome Tsang, DDS]

You may want to go see your regular case physician about the dry mouth symptoms.  For younger people, dry mouth tends to be more often a side effect of a medication although I don't believe oral contraceptives tend to do that.  Usually they're more anti-depressant medications.  There are a few diseases out there which cause dry mouth too so you may want to just see if that may be an issue.  Some bottle waters are acidic as well.