Repairing tooth erosion and ground down teeth

[jpark]

The palate side of my #6 Cuspid, #7 Lateral incisor, #8 Central incisor, #9 Central incisor, #10 Lateral incisor, and #11 Cuspid are damaged from tooth erosion and from being ground down from bruxism.

I stopped drinking soda and juice. And I stopped eating candy in order to stop my teeth from eroding any further. I managed to get my bruxism under control by wearing a night guard every night. But this general dentist that I am seeing at present says my front teeth are too short to be capped. And if he did cap my teeth that the caps would all come off too easily.

Will bonding -- or somekind of ceramic or metal veneer -- on the palate side of my cuspids and incisors be enough to rehabilitate these teeth? Or will the bonding just fall off?

And just how short is too short for a tooth to be capped?

Aside from implants, I am completely clueless as to how to repair these teeth.

[Jerome Tsang, DDS]

My personal opinion on the matter is that if it isn't bothering you, it may be best to manage the situation with a nightguard to reduce any more damage to your front teeth.  Simpleman1 brings up a point of doing root canals to remove the nerve inside the tooth in order to increase the bulk of your teeth with a post and buildup of tooth structure, then placement of a crown on the front.  But that is alot of dental work in order to satsified a cosmetic concern, as well as the possibility of complications in the future due to the treatment.  

They could also possible remove some gum tissue and place the crowns higher up by using more tooth below the gums.  Again, another possibility but it would depend on your smile line, etc because it could have some cosmetic problems if too much gum is removed, etc.

Again, a consultation with a specialist isn't a bad idea to get another opinion on the matter.  They can give you a complete examination to figure out whats the best option and the risk/benefits/alternatives of your particular case.

[simpleman1]

Ground teeth are manifestation of bruxism. Its good with the night guard u are maintaining what u have left. If your front teeth are shorter than the back teeth and there is room...You can think of getting rcts on the front teeth and get the needed retention my placing a post in the canal. This might be an option too...your dentist can look into it.

[jpark]

I'm not suffering from any symptoms from bruxism, except for the ground teeth. The night guard I am using is holding up. I don't brux during the day.

My dentist says my front teeth are shorter than my back teeth. My dentist managed to put a gold cap on one of my molars with no problem.

He says my upper incisors and upper canines are ground short, I maybe lost a little over a millimeter of length for my front teeth. My 4 lower incisors are also flat. My lower canines are so, so.

I also have quite a bit of gum covering my teeth a well. So I don't know how long they actually are.

[Jerome Tsang, DDS]

Are you suffering any symptoms from the bruxism?  If you want to cosmetically improve the look of your shorten teeth, then you would need to determine how much room you have to place crowns.  If your dentist feels that your bite is too collapsed (biting down farther than it used to due to the wear and tear of your teeth), then most likely you would need to see a specialist to specifically train your mouth to open up wider.  If you were to place larger crowns immediately, it might cause TMJ problems cause your bite would change too dramatically.  Then after opening your bite, you can look into permanent placement of crowns.  You may need to replace all of your teeth with crowns to replace all the wear and tear on your teeth.

I don't think bonding would stay but it may make a small cosmetic difference if its done carefully.  It may stay for awhile but its not a long term solution.

You can place metal on the lingual/palatal side of the crowns but your teeth would remain the same size roughly.  They would just grind on the metal instead of your teeth but with a nightguard, that shouldn't be an issue unless you brux during the day as well.

You may ask your dentist to schedule a referral for a prosthodontist (specialist) for alternatives but it would require alot of extensive dentistry.

[jpark]

Edit first paragraph:

The palate side of my #6 Cuspid, #7 Lateral incisor, #8 Central incisor, #9 Central incisor, #10 Lateral incisor, and #11 Cuspid are damaged from tooth erosion and the length of these teeth have been shortened from bruxism.