Why are my teeth so bad?

[LarryTofler]

Every time I visited the dentist until the age of 22 or so, I was complemented on how wonderful my teeth were. Now at 41 years of age I have two teeth missing (resulting from root canal gone wrong) I have had 3 or 4 other root canals. My dentist doen's know what is wrong with my teeth. He says there is not decay, he says my teeth are very small and there is ample evidence to suggest that I grind/clench. He made a splint for me to ware at night to reduce damage from grinding/clenching. I ware this every night now but it seems there i still damage occuring. I don't believe that I do or did grind at night I know that I clench when I'm working on something very physical. I eat a lot of fresh fruit which I know as soon as I mention dentists will say oh the acid from too much fruit is wrecking your teeth, but surely fruit is a very natural food for a human. Why is it that I know people who live on hamburgers and coca cola and potato chips and their teeth are fine? Any suggestions?

[newfatgirl]

You probably do grind. There are very obvious signs of a grinder. There are so many reasons teeth can go bad, especially when we start getting older. Do you take any medication? Some medication can cause dry mouth. When dry mouth occurs your mouth doesn't have the saliva it needs to wash away bacteria from your teeth. Tons of water on a daily basis is essential.

[scottma]

Classical signs of bruxism are excessive wearing of teeth structure,which may show cupping effect of occlual surface, and strong masseter muscles. The best way to prove if the bruxism is present is asking someone who sleeps with you. Bruxism almost always occurs during sleep. If a night guard is well fabricated, night time bruxism and day time clenching generally cease.Seeing a tmj specialist is advised.