Cosmetic Dentistry - Habits

Cosmetic Dentist Serving San Jose, Sunnyvale and the Bay Area

Habits

This is probably the most important factor in the longevity of cosmetic restorations. Parafunctional habits include biting fingernails, pipe smoking, chewing tobacco, etc. Some parafunctional habits are job related; for example, the carpenter that holds nails between his teeth or the seamstress who tears thread with her teeth. By far, most people with parafunctional habits grind or clench their teeth.

Grinding (bruxism) and clenching can cause rapid deterioration of your teeth. It is especially damaging if you have poor occlusion, a bad bite.

Five pairs of muscles move the lower jaw. A bad bite can reduce the biting force of these muscles to one ninth of perfect occlusion.

Conversely, a perfect bite increases the biting force by a factor of nine over poor occlusion. Poor occlusion means that the bite is not balanced when teeth come together, and back teeth (molars and bicuspids) touch when grinding teeth, bruxing.

The combination of poor occlusion and bruxism/clenching can cause:

Fractured teeth and cosmetic restorations
Severely worn teeth
Bone loss
Sensitive teeth
Headaches
Sore muscles
Movement of teeth

Treatment

Treatment usually involves improving occlusion to decrease muscle force and protect teeth and restorations. This can be accomplished by shaping teeth, new restorations, or appliances. Nighttime appliances are usually the most effective, economical, reversible, and simplest method to treat bruxism and clenching. The goal is always to create a balanced bite and anterior guidance.

Anterior guidance

Anterior guidance is the dental term for a protected bite. In this occlusal scheme the anterior teeth (cuspids, laterals, centrals) act as bumper guards for the posterior teeth.

A good analogy is the tires on boat slips to guide the boat into position. The boat can hit the tires on the left and right as they guide the boat into position. Likewise the upper anterior teeth (cuspids, laterals, and centrals) guide the lower jaw by separating the back teeth when grinding. This avoids wear and fracture of posterior/back teeth (molars and bicuspids) and decreases muscle forces.

VERY few humans have a naturally perfect occlusion with anterior guidance. Some are fine without treatment because they do not grind/clench much at night. Most people need an appliance that separates the back teeth when grinding/bruxing at night. Anterior guidance splints, stabilizing appliances, and anterior deprogrammers can be made by your dentist and will separate the back teeth.

Owner’s manual suggestion #4

Wear a custom made appliance every night to protect your cosmetic restorations and teeth, and decrease muscle force. Make sure this appliance keeps your back teeth apart when grinding/bruxing.

Some habits can be very detrimental to your cosmetic dentistry results. To make sure your new smile lasts as long as possible, contact Dr. Wayland to schedule an initial consultation and learn about all the ways you can maintain your teeth.