Worn teeth is the most common symptom of tmj problems.

A healthy, functional mouth consists of 3 components – the muscles, the jaw joints, and the teeth. When someone has a bad bite, anyone of these 3 can suffer, and it’s usually the teeth.

In a healthy mouth, you will not be able to see any signs of worn teeth, at any age. Teeth are designed to last us our entire life, and are supposed to wear very little.

A bad bite will can prematurely wear the back teeth in a number of ways. The back teeth are supposed to keep the top and bottom front teeth from touching each other. When the back teeth wear down, then the space between the top and bottom front teeth shrinks, and eventually they touch.

If your front teeth touch when you bite together, chances are they are worn more than they should be.

This is the same for people with a deep bite, where they see little or none of their bottom teeth when they bite together.

A night time guard is not the answer – at this point, the front teeth will continue to wear from rubbing against each other during the day, usually while eating meals. The wear will continue, and the teeth will get shorter and shorter over time. This puts more pressure on the front teeth, which can cause the top front teeth to splay forward, or even worse, break off.

Contact us to schedule an assessment – early diagnosis and treatment can sometimes prevent both costly and painful symptoms.