Why do my teeth surface feel rough and uneven?

Normally, your tooth surface should feel smooth with no rocky or deepened appearance on it. Smooth normal teeth are easily distinguishable from rough fizzy teeth. Later one could be an indication of progression of a disease with means it should get treated within short time.

Tooth surface is totally enamel which is shiny and hardest component made of organic and inorganic compounds. Abrasion, erosion and some trauma can cause damage to enamel layer of teeth.

Following are some causes of fizzy appearance of teeth:

1. Aggressive brushing:

Good Brushing technique includes light medium force just to remove plaque and food debris from teeth. It’s aim isn’t to whiten the tooth. Some people do it aggressively for whitening results as well. This aggressive style of yours can cause abrasion of enamel.

Too much brushing, five to seven times a day is not recommended at all too. Habits like these can cause enamel weakening which could be an alarming sign for a healthy tooth structure. As enamel is covering all over the clinical tooth.

Once enamel got damaged, structures beneath it could get exposed to external environment. Structures present beneath enamel are dentin and pulp which are sensitive part of tooth which will be more prone to sensitivity, pain and caries.

How to do you know you are brushing too hard:

1. Your gums are bleeding are receding near gum line. Excessive, aggressive brushing can cause gums recession. Which could be one sign for changing your brushing technique.

2. Sensitivity:

At younger age, teeth normally do not get sensitivity with good oral habits and oral hygiene. If you’ve been feeling sensitivity to cold eatables or drinks, there are chances you have been cleaning your teeth with hard bristles containing brush or too aggressive brushing technique.

How much force should someone use while brushing:

Use soft bristles containing brush. Apply pressure against teeth until your bristles are felt by your teeth. Bristles shouldn’t get too much bend or too straight. Consult your dentist, if you think you aren’t applying enough pressure. As result, your teeth do not get cleaned too.

2. Diet:

Diet plays a significantly higher role than people consider. Acidic drinks, beverages can lead to erosion within a month if consumed in a large and consistent way. Acidic drinks like beer, cold drinks have PH ranging from 3-5 which could be hazardous to normal tooth surface.

Erosion is directly proportional to frequency of consumption of acidic beverages. Once a week do not cause rough fizzy appearance of teeth but once a day can lead to some trouble. Foods having PH less than 5.5 can cause rough ragged enamel.

Food and beverages that can cause erosion:

Orange

lemon

pickles

cold drinks

beer

Acidic fruit juices

Sugar free acidic drinks

3. Excessive vomiting:

People having some systemic condition that leads vomiting once a day are more prone to erosion problems. Vomiting brings acid from stomach into the oral cavity in contact with teeth usually on lingual (inner) side of teeth.

Lingual surfaces of teeth are more prone to caries, sensitivity and abrasion of upper layer in these patients. Acid will cause light yellow spots on teeth which means enamel is getting dissolved day by day.

People with systemic diseases like GERD, and some eating disorders are more prone to this abnormal condition of teeth. Treat these systemic conditions by consulting your physician as soon as possible.

4. Drugs:

Some people take drugs having PH low which makes low PH saliva. In conditions like these saliva itself become a caustic factor for erosion of enamel surface. Ascorbic acid, and Aspirin increases PH of salivary fluid. Lingual (inner) side of teeth are more prone to disease in conditions like these.

5. Plaque and calculus buildup:

Plaque, calculus and debris accumulation in inter proximal surfaces of tooth is common but people who don’t brush regular, often came with complaints of bad breath, roughened surface of teeth. Plaque is comparatively softer than calculus.

Calculus accumulation on smooth surface of teeth can easily be felt with tongue. It should be removed by professional. Brush properly twice a day. Reduce frequency of eating during the day. Calculus will be removed by ultrasonic devices by your dentist.

6. Enamel fracture:

Traumatic blow can sometimes often lead to fracture of enamel on tooth surface. Enamel is the protection layer present all over the deeper sensitive part of teeth. Trauma often cause enamel deformation. Fracture should be monitored quickly.

Fracture line sometimes can easily be felt with tongue or finger but it should be diagnosed with x rays, as fracture can be in dentin, pulp or in roots. It should be treated immediately as fractures can lead to some serious trouble for patients.

7. Swimmers:

Swimmers do swimming in chlorinated water. Their teeth often come in contact with water which can cause erosion of teeth. Chlorine is a potent compound that can erase enamel from the teeth. Swimmers should wear mouth guards for protection of teeth.

8. Previous fillings:

Previous filling with abnormal contours can also make you feel a little anxious about your teeth smoothness. Contact your dentist about this. Over contour filling will be smoothened by finishing burs by your dentist.

9. Caries:

Caries is the most common tooth decaying disease present throughout the world. With the evolving ages, people have been consuming more and more carbs, refined products as well. Bacterias present in oral cavity act on carbs, produce acid and cause tooth destruction.

Caries can destroy your whole tooth if not taken care of, treated by your dentist in short time. Caries can be viewed easily with a naked eye mostly but x ray is important to see the extent of caries, it’s progression and treatment plan.

How to diagnose the problem?

Diagnosis is one major step that leads to treatment plan. So often, dentist can diagnose the whole problem by simple procedures. Following are some diagnostic test for seeking out the the real problem.

1. Tooth percussion test:

This is the easiest way to find out the depth of a fracture, caries or other pathology. Tooth percussion is abbreviated as TTP test. TTP test can be done at home too with simple hard, clean instrument. Use a backside of spoon and percuss on tooth surface which is rough.

If you felt any pain by percussion, contact your dentist immediately. If there is no pain, it’s not a hurry as pathology can be arrested easily by a simple restoration. TTP positive can be an indication of root canal treatment or pulp therapy procedures like pulpotomy or direct pulp capping.

2. Radiographs:

X ray is most often used diagnostic test used for finding out the cause of rough enamel surfaces. If there is no caries detected on x ray, treatment will not include fillings. But if rough surface is due to caries, the decayed part will be removed first and restored with filling material.

These two are the most common test performed very often. Other diagnostic tests are electric pulp test, cold test, heat test or tooth slooth test for fracture lines. But these additional tests are performed after radiographs.