Dental Care for All of Us

When people envision teeth, their minds typically go to white, perfectly-sized teeth. But everyone knows that's not always how it works in real life. If you've noticed that the edges of your teeth appear to be translucent or clear, you're not the only one. This can happen to a lot of people over time. Here's what you should know about what's going on and what impact it has on your dental health.

How It Happens

Teeth don't start out looking this way. It only happens over time, due to aging and exposure to acids in food and drink.

What's happening here is that the enamel of your teeth is starting to wear down. This can happen to anyone as they age. As the teeth go through daily wear and tear, it can gradually start to cause this problem. But, you can also speed it up if you consume a lot of acidic foods and drinks, like orange juice. The acid temporarily softens the tooth enamel and allows it to be damaged when you brush your teeth or eat hard food, effectively scraping away a small layer of it. What ends up being left behind (after many, many episodes of doing this) is weakened enamel that you can practically see through.

What It Means For Your Dental Health

The problem with this condition is that you rely on your dental enamel to get you through all kinds of things. The enamel is the hardest surface in the body and is there to help protect your teeth not only from bacteria and plaque but also injury. When the enamel thins out, there isn't as much of it — or as good a quality of it — protecting your teeth anymore. As a result, your teeth can easily develop cavities or be injured when struck with something.

What To Do About It

If you're worried about your dental health, don't be. There's only one thing you need to do: visit a dentist.

Your dentist can keep up on your dental hygiene to ensure that you don't develop a cavity and to help slow down the progression of enamel loss. If the enamel loss is already quite bad, they can provide you with fillings to help make up for the lost enamel and to restore the original appearance of your teeth.

Tooth enamel is a vital part of the structure of a tooth. Be gentle with your teeth and try to avoid acidic beverages and food going forward to prevent this from getting worse. Talk to a dentist for more information.