Enamel can repair itself using minerals from saliva and fluoride from toothpaste or other sources. However, if the tooth decay process continues, more minerals are lost. Over time, the enamel weakens and is destroyed, forming a cavity. A tooth decay is permanent damage that the dentist must repair with a filling.
Enamel is the thin outer layer of material that covers the part of the teeth outside the gums. Poor eating habits, an unhealthy oral care routine, and other factors can weaken and damage enamel. Once damaged, tooth enamel cannot be repaired. However, weakened enamel can be repaired.
Researchers have been working for years to try to find ways to regenerate tooth enamel. Like the heart, whose cells can't repair themselves, dental damage is permanent. Until now, it is physically and scientifically impossible to regrow teeth or tooth enamel in dental patients. It has to do with the type of cells that make up the dental structure.
When tooth decay and trauma ravage enamel, dentists patch things up with gold crowns or ceramic caps. But these crowns cannot replace the hard, white mineral surface of enamel.
Enamel is a semi-translucent substance composed of approximately 96% minerals, primarily calcium and phosphorus that bond together to form hard crystallites. It also contains water (4%) and proteins (1%).
Damaged Enamel
While tooth enamel is a tough substance, it can also be damaged by acids from the foods and drinks you eat, poor oral hygiene, teeth grinding (bruxism), and trauma. Damaged enamel is called erosion and is not reversible.
Enamel protects your teeth from chewing, biting, and crunching, as well as shielding them from painful temperatures and chemicals that can irritate the nerves inside. It also helps to prevent cavities from forming in the teeth.
Once eroded, the enamel can become sensitive to hot and cold foods or beverages. This is called enamel sensitivity and can be very uncomfortable.
When this happens, it’s important to seek dental care immediately. You may need to undergo a treatment called enamel remineralization, where your teeth absorb minerals such as calcium and phosphate from saliva to strengthen the weakened enamel.
Tooth Decay
Your teeth are made of enamel - a tough outer coating that protects your tooth against decay. It is naturally a combination of minerals from saliva and fluoride (the salts in toothpaste and other sources).
When you eat or drink things that contain sugars, these foods react with the bacteria in plaque to produce acids. These acid attacks soften and dissolve the enamel over time.
Once the enamel is weakened, white spots may start to appear on your teeth where the minerals have been lost. This is called demineralization and it can be stopped or reversed by using fluoride mouthwash or getting dental treatments.
Enamel can also be damaged by toothaches – this is another sign that the enamel has been weakened. Your dentist can treat toothaches by using an injection or by removing the affected area.
Your teeth can also be damaged by gum disease – this is an infection that eats away at the enamel of your tooth and causes pain and swelling in your gums. This infection can progress to the pulp, which is inside your tooth, causing you pain and discomfort.
Tooth Sensitivity
Your teeth have a hard, clear outer layer called enamel that protects them from hot, cold and acidic foods and drinks. Enamel is also very good at shielding the nerves in your tooth.
But over time, this protective shield can wear down and become damaged. This can happen because of a number of factors, including aggressive brushing with abrasive toothpaste, too much abrasive or acidic drinks, and tooth grinding.
The dentin that lies under the enamel and cementum on the root of your teeth is vulnerable to sensitivity when it’s exposed. The dentin contains thousands of tiny tubules that lead to the center of your tooth, where your nerves are located.
When these dentinal channels are triggered by cold, hot or sweet substances, the pain you feel is caused by your nerves being exposed. This can happen when the enamel and cementum on your tooth roots become damaged, or if you have gum recession, which causes your gums to pull away from your teeth.
Sealants
Sealants (sometimes called pit and fissure sealants) help protect the biting surfaces of back teeth from tooth decay. This extra protection helps prevent cavities from forming in the first place, avoiding costly and painful treatments like fillings, crowns, and caps.
The pits and grooves on the chewing surfaces of your back teeth are more prone to tooth decay than smooth surface enamel. They also have rougher surfaces that are hard to clean thoroughly.
In addition to preventing tooth decay, sealants also make your teeth easier to brush and floss. These benefits are especially helpful for people who have trouble maintaining good oral hygiene habits because of a mental or physical challenge.
The procedure for placing sealants begins with the dentist or hygienist isolating the tooth to receive the treatment and cleaning it thoroughly. Then a mild “etching” solution is applied to roughen the tooth’s surface and prepare it for the bonded sealant material.
Fortunately, there are still ways to repair tooth enamel that is weak, before it is physically destroyed. Tooth enamel is one of the hardest tissues in the human body. It acts as a protective layer for our teeth and gives our smile a pearly white glow. But when enamel erodes, it can't grow back on its own.
Once tooth enamel is damaged, it cannot be recovered. However, weakened enamel can be restored to some extent by improving its mineral content. Although toothpastes and mouthwashes can never “rebuild” teeth, they can contribute to this remineralization process. Every day, there are many opportunities to combat tooth decay by brushing, flossing, using mouthwashes, and even changing eating habits.
Ingesting too much fluoride while your teeth are still developing can cause permanent dental enamel irregularities, such as hyperfluorosis, in which your teeth look discolored, brown, speckled, or with pitted enamel. If you notice this, tooth tenderness or pain, rough spots, or changes in tooth color, see your dentist. Minerals in saliva and oral care products can help restore these minerals and repair weakened enamel. It cannot regrow tooth enamel or repair tooth enamel that already had a physical cavity inside.
For example, if a child swallows a whole tube of toothpaste or other personal care product, they are likely to have extreme nausea and you will need to call the poison control service. When you brush your teeth after drinking orange juice, you soften it with acid and then add a layer of abrasion on top of it. This is because acidity can soften enamel and brushing can further damage the tooth due to friction caused by the toothbrush and paste. When you drink them consistently throughout the day, these liquids coat your teeth and can increase the risk of tooth decay.
Enamel erosion is the result of the physical weakening that occurs when the tooth is frequently exposed to plaque, acids, and certain foods. Enamel plasticizing is a last-effort procedure that dentists rarely use and is reserved for more extreme cases or damage to the teeth. Fillings, crowns, veneers and dental joints can protect the tooth from further enamel loss and decay, and also improve the overall appearance.
