1. Erosion Connection
An interesting connection exists between dental erosion and acid reflux. The digestive juices in your stomach are loaded with acid. In fact, your stomach acid may be powerful enough to eat away at your teeth. As long as stomach acid stays in your stomach, where it belongs, your mouth isn't affected by it. But when acid sneaks up your esophagus into your mouth, your teeth have something to worry about.
2. Acid Dents
Dental erosion describes the way your tooth enamel wears away from your teeth. Enamel is a hard substance that covers and protects the exposed surface of your teeth. Once the protective enamel coating is damaged, tooth decay and other dental problems may start. If your dentist mentions "dental erosion," he means your enamel is in trouble. Acid reflux allows stomach acid to escape into your mouth, and that acid eats away at your tooth enamel over time.
3. Acid Up, Teeth Down
Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), or acid reflux, is caused by a malfunction in the little muscle located at the base of your esophagus. This little muscle (the lower esophageal sphincter, or LES) is supposed to keep stomach juices from coming up into your esophagus. Your esophagus is the muscle that takes food from your mouth into your stomach. When the LES relaxes and opens at inopportune times, stomach juice comes back up from your stomach into your esophagus, bringing with it splashes of stomach acid. Since the esophagus connects your stomach with your mouth, guess where that acid lands?
4. Silent GERD
GERD doesn't always cause pain or make noise. Some people may have acid reflux and have no symptoms or only slight symptoms. Many people suffer with heartburn pain, strong belching and a sour taste in the mouth as a result of acid reflux, but you may have GERD and not know it. Those who suffer the annoying and uncomfortable symptoms may say you're lucky, but silent GERD may be sneaking into your mouth and eating away at your tooth enamel, damaging your dental health. A sour taste in your mouth with no reasonable explanation may be a sign of silent GERD.
5. Dentist Diagnosed
Your dentist may be the first to diagnose acid reflux if you have no clear symptoms of the disease. Silent GERD may only be discovered by the obvious dental erosion in your mouth. Regular dental checkups are important for a variety of reasons. If your dentist suspects silent GERD, your acid reflux must be treated first. Dental erosion can't be effectively treated or reversed until the root cause is resolved.
