Weak Enamel

[AshD409]

I am only 18 years old, and I already have weak enamel.  You cannot tell from looking straight on, but if I open my mouth and you look down upon my teeth, you can even see clear spots on the ends of all my front teeth.  The back teeth however seem to be perfectly fine.  I have already have both of my front teeth chip for no exact reason.  Both have been fixed.  I was wondering if there is anything I could do to strengthen my enamel? or to reverse the effects?  Also, if I were to get my teeth filed down, would this help me teeth? Or just make the overall problem worse?
Any help is appreciated!

[Jerome Tsang, DDS]

I'm not sure if you have weak enamel or not.  Generally, natural teeth do have a slight clear translucent edge to it, especially noticeable on the front incisors.  I actually had my cousin ask me the same thing and she was hoping to bleach it white but in reality, its very normal.  The smiles you see on magazines are generally veneers in which they place a porcelain jacket on the front teeth and give it a complete white surface with no translucency.

As for the chipping though, it can be repairs several ways.  I would just be cautious in regards to eating or biting straight on food such as taking a bite out of an apple.  

If you want to strengthen the enamel, I would recommend buying some over the counter fluoride mouth wash and using it once a day at night.  Just swish for 30 seconds and spit.  Don't rinse out afterwards and let it sit in your mouth for 30 mins with no food/drink or anything.  That way the teeth can mineralize.

Hope that helps.

[AshD409]

Perfect!
Thank you so much.

[Jerome Tsang, DDS]

You're welcome.

[colgal]

A related discussion, Weakening Enamel? was started.