It’s quite common to see people who are used to eating nuts or melon seeds with the same part of tooth over time having defects on their incisal edge. In most cases, the defects won’t be very serious. Obvious incisor defect, however, will take a toll on your image, requiring timely restoration.

    Actually, it’s a type of tooth wear called chronic incisor abrasion, typically demonstrated as an arc-shaped or V-shaped defect. What can you do to deal with such problem?

    According to dentists from AKJ Dental Hospital, the defect is repairable. But what restorative approach will be needed depends on the size of the defect. Nowadays there are majorly two ways to fix the issue — composite resin filling and porcelain veneer. 

    Resin restoration refers to filling the defective part with composite resin, with no need of enamel abrasion. The procedure is quite simple, and can be completed within a short period of time. Since the resin material is transparent, it can yield a fairly aesthetic result. Besides, the procedure is also rather affordable. Surely, there are demerits as well. Without an excellent hardness and fixation feature, the restoration may not be very durable and are prone to discoloration over time. It may well be susceptible to fracture or falling-off due to different reasons as well.

    As for porcelain veneers, they are wafer-thin shells designed to bond over teeth surface. Generally speaking, veneers can produce a desirable result when it comes to restoring mild tooth defects, dental fluorosis or tetracycline pigmentation teeth. However, it requires to abrade a thin layer of tooth enamel beforehand in order to hold the veneer in place and create a natural and coordinating looking. 

    After the restoration, be it resin filling or veneer, you have to avoid eating hard foods. If you are a big fan of nuts with hard shell and cannot help but eat them, you’d better have their shells removed with other tools in advance, instead of biting them directly with your teeth. Relevant article: The price of dental filling

    Please feel free to contact me if there’s any dental problem. (WeChat ID: aiyuan325180)