Teeth often wear more quickly than they should due to factors other than aging. Many people have incorrect bites that contribute to a wearing down of the enamel. Others have a habit called bruxism, or excessive grinding of the teeth, that causes tooth wear.

If your bite is balanced and your teeth touch only when you eat, there should be no abnormal wear. When teeth are at rest, they should not touch (lips together; teeth apart is the rule). If teeth continue to touch each other when at rest, it can lead to serious problems such as temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorder. The temporomandibular joint is located between the temporal bone (at the temple area) and the mandible (jaw). Symptoms of TMJ disorder include headaches, neck pain, back pain and earaches. Unfortunately, patients often consult a number of medical specialists before discovering that their jaws are the source of their problem.

During the exam, we check your teeth your teeth for wear spots, cracks and other signs of a bite problem. It is important to determine when and where you are grinding your teeth to determine the method of treatment.

Some clinicians believe that stress causes bruxism. Others believe it is an unconscious attempt to create a better bite by grinding down those teeth that do not meet properly. Regardless of the origin, bruxism can cause serious aesthetic problems. Worn lower front teeth can result in tooth erosion and brown staining. Worn upper front teeth can result in an aging, drooping smile.

If your teeth are already worn down, there are several ways to correct the problem:

Bonding may sometimes be an option for certain types of cross bites to build out the upper teeth so they are in proper correspondence to the lower teeth. Alternatively, in selected cases, bonding can be used to build out lower front teeth to diminish the illusion of protruding upper teeth.

However, bonding is generally a weak compromise treatment for most bite problems. It is more effective as a way to make discolored, chipped, crowded, worn or irregularly spaced teeth look better in the existing bite relationship.

Another option your dentist may suggest is to wear a customized plastic mouth appliance that interrupts grinding. Although the appliance may not break you of the habit, it will prevent further wearing of your teeth and allow your muscles to rest. This removable appliance is a diagnostic tool as well, to locate the places of excessive wear.

In other cases of tooth wear, your dentist can fuse composite resin or porcelain laminate veneers to the front surfaces of the teeth to give your smile a more youthful and healthy appearance.

For patients with extensive tooth wear -- regardless of the cause -- maximum improvement is usually obtained with crowning. It may even be possible to restore your bite to its previous condition. The advantage of porcelain crowns is that they are made from a beautiful material that can completely mask staining. Crowns can also straighten and replace worn teeth simultaneously.

Orthodontics, or repositioning the teeth so that they come together properly, is by far the best treatment for most bite problems. In some cases, orthognathic surgery (jaw surgery) is combined with orthodontics to achieve faster and better-looking results.