Occlusal Disease

As healthcare has improved over the past century, people have been living longer lives. One of the results of this is a population of people over the age of forty or fifty. We are now seeing and dealing with disease processes which were uncommon just a short time ago. The mouth is no exception. Fifty or sixty years ago, gum disease was almost unheard of. Most people of that time lost all their teeth or died long before they could develop gum problems. One condition that many experts see as an epidemic in our society is occlusal or bite disease. Signs of this problem are:

• Biting surfaces of teeth worn flat, often with cupping where dentin is exposed.
• Multiple chipped, cracked, and broken teeth and crowns(caps)
• "divots" or "toothbrush Abrasion at the gumline (abfraction)
• Thick bony growth over the tooth roots
• Front teeth with even flat edges and teeth that are wider than they are long
• deep creases or wrinkles at the corners of the mouth
• Loose or shifting teeth

Occlusal disease may not be painful or uncomfortable to the patient. It can be a component of TMJ syndrome and can aggravate any pre-existing gum disease or periodontal problems. Occlusal Disease can also be a factor in cosmetic and esthetic dental problems.

Treatments for occlusal disease range from no treatment at all to full-mouth rehabilitation. Frequently the bite will need to be "opened up" to correct for the wear that has occurred over the years. It's important to find an experienced dentist who can deal with the complexities of bite reconstruction. Simply patching a worn tooth or "just fixing the teeth that show" are recipes for failure.