Why should you be concern about them? Are they caused by bacteria or viruses? How do people get them? What are the symptoms? How can they be prevented or treated? When you should call your Houston dentist? Even though there are several reasons why teeth become sensitive, the most common cause of teeth hypersensitivity is Abfraction lesions says teeth whitening Houston dentist.

By the end of this article, Dr Farid Noie will get you the answer to all these questions. So, let's begin.

What are Abfraction lesions? Abfraction lesions are ?V? shaped notches that form on side of your teeth at the gum line. You can easily feel them by running the tip of your finger nail in them. Be careful, it might give you a zap. They normally appear on the cuspids and bicuspids.

Why should you be concerned about them? For many years, a large group of population has complaint of hypersensitivity on their teeth when they drink something cold or eat something sweet. It is a kind of sharp shooting pain that usually lasts a few seconds. Most people who suffer from this condition usually modify their eating and drinking behavior and learn to avoid cold drinks and certain foods. Others switch to toothpastes for sensitive teeth (Sensodyne, etc.). Some have them filled by their dentist, however, these types of fillings comes off more often than other types.

What causes them?

These lesions are not cavity, at least not in the beginning. They are not caused by bacteria or viruses. Contrary to popular believe, they are not caused by brushing too hard either. These lesions have a very distinct shape and are site specific which does not resemble the shape of the head of a tooth brush. These lesions are caused by flexure and stress on the tooth over a long period of time. When we eat, we grind the food with our back teeth. This side to side motion causes slight bending and flexing of the back teeth. The flexing motion applies stress on the enamel at the gum line and causes some of the enamel to chip off and uncovers the inner layer of the tooth which contains nerve endings. When these nerve endings are exposed to hot or cold temperature or sweet, you feel pain. Many studies have concluded that normal eating and mastication of the food is not long enough in duration to cause a significant lesion, enough to cause sensitivity. These mild lesions usually don't need to be treated either. However, people who grind their teeth at night or chew gum for long periods increases this flexure and bending. That's usually when these lesions become problematical.

How can they be prevented or treated?

Mild lesions that are caused by normal chewing and wear and tear normally don't need to be treated. They have to be monitored closely by your dentist during the routine check up because these lesions are more susceptible to get cavity than normal intact surfaces of the teeth. But so long as they are not sensitive or decayed they usually don't need to be treated or fixed.

Dr Farid Noie says that several factors however can significantly increase the rate of expansion of the Abfraction lesions.

Grinding or Clenching: The most common is habitual or stress related grinding or clenching at night. This chronic grinding motion is equivalent to 10 to 20 times more stress than normal chewing.

Overloading: When some of the back teeth are missing, the amount of the normal biting force generated by your jaw muscles are divided by fewer teeth which means the remaining teeth absorb more force per tooth. This added stress and force increases the flexure of the remaining teeth and increases the rate of expansion of the lesion significantly.

Partial denture: partial dentures need clasps to stay on the teeth. These clasps normally hooks the appliance to the side of the teeth and repeated putting on and taking off of these partial denture can over time increase the chipping of the tooth enamel from the side of the teeth and increase the rate of expansion of the lesion.

Chewing Gum: Excess gum chewing increases the lesions by increasing the amount of the time that the teeth are being used, thus causing increase wear and tear. Your dentist can determine if your teeth sensitivity is caused by Abfraction lesion or other causes and whether or not they are harmless or a potential problem.