Case study: rebuilding worn front teeth in a grinder
A patient in their forties whose upper front teeth had shortened over two decades of night-time grinding.
12 September 2026 · 5 min read · Dr Sundeep Solanki
The concern
The front teeth looked short and square, with thin, translucent edges that chipped regularly. Photographs from ten years earlier showed considerably more tooth. The patient was conscious of showing almost no upper teeth when speaking.
What we found
Classic attrition from bruxism, with flat matching wear facets on the lower teeth and tenderness in the jaw muscles on waking. Treating the appearance without addressing the cause would have meant repeating the work within a few years.
The plan
- Records first: photographs, scans, and a period of monitoring to confirm the grinding pattern
- A digital design of the restored tooth lengths, trialled in the mouth before anything permanent
- Composite build-ups to restore the worn edges, conserving the remaining enamel
- A custom nightguard, fitted at the review and worn nightly
The outcome
Length and proportion restored without preparing healthy tooth, and a protective appliance to keep it that way. The patient is reviewed annually and the composite is polished at each hygiene visit.
Because the material is repairable, a chip in five years is an appointment, not a remake.
A note on this case
Details are anonymised and no identifying photographs are published. Every mouth is different — this is an account of one patient's treatment, not a promise of the same outcome.
This article is general information, not personal dental advice. Treatment suitability is assessed individually at consultation.