Teeth are the fundamental element of a smile, having small teeth can become a form of discomfort because small teeth drastically compromise the complete physiognomy of the face.
Why do I have small teeth?
This is a frequent question of our patients. Not always are born with small teeth, indeed most of the time the teeth become small due to dental erosion.
In fact, teeth can shorten because they erode or wear out.
The two main reasons why teeth can get smaller are:
- bruxism;
- erosion by acid substances.
Bruxism
When a patient suffers from bruxism, he unconsciously grinds his teeth, especially during the night. The involuntary contraction of the orofacial muscles involves a continuous rubbing of the teeth between them, between the two dental arches.
The protraction of this pathology involves the gradual erosion of the enamel, which is why the teeth wear out and shorten.
Bruxism also has other consequences, such as continuous headaches or back pain. To prevent the patient from having this type of consequences and above all from continuing to ruin the enamel, the most suitable treatment is that of the bite.
The bite protects the teeth from continuous rubbing.
Dental erosion due to acid substances
Another reason why teeth can become smaller is the erosion of the enamel due to acid substances.
When the pH of the oral cavity is very acidic due to frequent intake of carbonated drinks or acidic foods, it happens that acidic substances can slowly corrode the tooth enamel and therefore shortening of the teeth themselves, which become small, occurs.
Small teeth are, for example, one of the characteristics that often distinguishes patients with bulimia.
How to intervene on small teeth?
Thanks to cosmetic dentistry treatments, it is now possible to restore teeth to their normal size without invasive treatments.
Eroded or worn teeth are usually treated with two dental techniques:
- application of dental veneers;
- tooth encapsulation.
Dental veneers
If the surface of the worn tooth is small, it is possible to intervene with the application of dental veneers. The dentist applies small ceramic plates to the surface of the tooth, with a very thin thickness, never exceeding 6 mm.
With the application of veneers to the front surface of the teeth, worn teeth will be just a bad memory, as the teeth will immediately return to their natural size.
Tooth encapsulation
Tooth encapsulation, on the other hand, is a dental treatment for the most severe clinical cases. If the surface of the tooth to be treated is very large, the dentist can opt for tooth encapsulation.
The entire crown of the tooth is encapsulated with a new specially made crown.
The new prosthesis is therefore able to fully cover all the damage suffered by the tooth in terms of shape, size and color.
Also in this case you can smile again without feeling any discomfort.
