Disappearing Teeth

Do you have translucent teeth? By that, I mean the tip of your tooth being more transparent than the rest of that tooth.

I always thought that this was normal. Until I saw last night that the “translucency” has spread upwards in a narrow, long line on my front tooth!

I was so worried I went running to the one I always turn to in times of fear and uncertainty:
Google.

(Did you think I would say Fu? Well, I might have gone to him, if not for the fact he was sleeping like a log)

The search results mostly pointed to Acid Erosion.

According to webMD, erosion can be caused by any of the following:

• Excessive soft drink consumption (high levels of phosphoric and citric acids)
• Fruit drinks (some acids in fruit drinks are more erosive than battery acid)
• Dry mouth or low salivary flow (xerostomia)
• Diet (high in sugar and starches)
• Acid reflux disease (GERD)
• Gastrointestinal problems
• Medications (aspirin, antihistamines)
• Genetics (inherited conditions)
• Environmental factors (friction, wear and tear, stress, and corrosion)

I don’t take carbonated drinks at all, but I do drink fruit juices… D:

There is no way my poor tooth enamel has a chance against battery acid.

As it was summer, we drank about 6-8 litres of fruit juices a week. Sometimes more. Is that a lot?

While I was reading up on tooth erosion, phrases like “irreversible loss”, “permanent damage” jumped out at me and made me panic quite a bit.

NOOOOOOOOO!!!

I don’t want my teeth to disappear! I will change! No more fruit juice! Drink more water! Floss every day!

But then… I came across this thread.

Hmmm. Maybe I’m just lacking calcium and magnesium.

I feel a lot more relieved now. Hahaha. At least there’s a possibility of fixing it!

I’m gonna start on calcium and magnesium supplements (I don’t think I meet the recommended daily intake right now anyway) and hope there will be some improvement.

Fingers crossed!

(I will still cut back on juices, up water intake and try to floss every day, heh)