Questions to ask your dentist about dental acid erosion.Dental acid erosion is the softening and gradual loss of your teeth’s enamel, if you ignore it and do nothing about dental erosion it can lead to more serious dental problems in the long term.

How did I get it?

probably as a direct result of consuming acids found in everyday foods and drink such as fruit juices, some soft drinks, fruit and wine. After contact with these naturally occurring acids the surface of the tooth enamel is softened which makes your teeth more vulnerable to the effects of brushing.

Why haven’t I heard of it before?

Diets have changed a lot over recent years leading to higher consumption of these naturally occurring acids and unfortunately acid erosion isn’t easy to detect in the early stages. Whilst your teeth might look positively healthy to your eye and untrained eye the reality may me somewhat different and only a trained dentist will only know for sure if you have it. An early sign might be a sudden sensitivity to hot, cold and sweet things.

What can you do about it?

Visit your dentist for the best advice, he might advise that you avoid certain foods and drinks. You may need to give more thought to your eating habits and make changes to avoid dental acid erosion. Rather than prolonging the swallowing of fruit swallow it as soon as you are ready to digest. Drinks with a high acid content should be drunk using a straw thereby avoiding contact with your teeth and rinsing your mouth with water after eating will help to lower levels of mouth acid. Avoid making the situation worse and wait at least an hour after eating before brushing your teeth with a low abrasive toothpaste.

It is important to protect your tooth enamel as soon a possible because loss of enamel is irreversible. There are toothpastes available specifically designed to help re-harden softened enamel and typically these will be of low abrasivity, non acidic and high in fluoride for the best possible protection against dental acid erosion.