A 38-year old patient, whom we will refer to as Kevin, came to the Cosmetic Dentistry Center because his teeth were becoming extremely sensitive to cold water and air. He explained he had first noticed this one night several weeks back while drinking ice tea, and that the condition had become increasingly worse and painful, not only when he drank something cold, but even when he breathed in cold air while running in Memorial Park in the morning. He also said that his wife had woke him up a number of times in the past few weeks, telling him that she had heard him grinding his teeth in his sleep. Kevin was afraid that he might have an abscess and require a root canal. We were more optimistic, because his symptoms sounded more like dental abfraction.
Both sensitivity to cold and the grinding of his teeth (a condition called Bruxism), are symptoms of dental abfraction–an all too common condition where the teeth at or below the gum line become notched. This causes heightened tooth sensitivity and discomfort, and, depending on the degree of dental abfraction, can result in conditions such as bicuspid drop-off, worn anterior teeth that become frayed around the edges, gingival recession, exposed dentin, and bruxism.