Why Do My Teeth Suddenly Look Smaller?

Many aspects of our bodies and physical health change throughout our lives, and our teeth, gums, and jawbone are no exception.

You’re born with no teeth. But baby teeth eventually come in, and you have all 20 baby teeth by age three. Around age six, baby teeth make way for 32 permanent adult teeth that solidifies each of their places by age 21. 

While your teeth aren’t going to grow more after they’ve fully erupted through your gums, many outside factors can impact the position, size, shape, and overall appearance of your teeth. This change includes things like oral hygiene habits, disease, and even the long-term effects of gravity as you age. 

If you’ve noticed that your teeth are looking smaller, they haven’t shrunk but have experienced the long-term effects of external factors. At Beaches Dentistry in Jacksonville Beach, Florida, Nodesh Shyamsunder, BDS, Jasleen Raina, DDS, and the rest of our team understand that it can be concerning to notice sudden changes in the appearance of your smile. 

In this month’s blog, we discuss possible causes for tooth shortening and how we can help. 

Tooth erosion

Your teeth have a thick outer layer called enamel. Enamel is the hardest substance in your body, even more than your bones, and protects your teeth from damage. However, chemical and mechanical factors may wear the enamel down and leave your teeth vulnerable to staining, decay, and sensitivity. 

When tooth enamel wears away, it won’t come back. And if the force causing the enamel damage doesn’t get addressed, you put yourself at risk for tooth damage. Your teeth can start to wear down and begin to look shorter and smaller. 

Common factors that can lead to tooth erosion include: 

• Grinding or clenching your teeth (bruxism)
• Having a diet heavy in sugary, starchy, or acidic foods
• Brushing your teeth too aggressively or too frequently
• Using certain medications long-term, such as antihistamines 

Along with shorter teeth, tooth erosion may cause tooth cracks, tooth stains, and severe sensitivity. 

Bone resorption 

Your bones are constantly remodeling, meaning they discard old bone (resorption) and replace it with new bone (ossification). However, you can lose bone density if bone cells get discarded faster than replaced. One of the places where the effects of too much resorption can be noticed and felt is your jawbone. 

Proper bone remodeling in your jaw is stimulated by your tooth roots whenever you bite down. However, if you lose any of your teeth due to tooth decay, your jawbone is no longer getting remodeled the way it should, and the entire structure of your jaw (and face) can shift and change. 

If you’ve lost more than one of your adult teeth, how your teeth look can change significantly as your jaw shifts, and that may include the size of your teeth. 

Tooth loss is typically the cause of bone resorption, and loss of permanent teeth can happen due to severe tooth decay and gum disease. 

Correcting changes in tooth size

No matter the reason for the sudden change in how your teeth look, we can help. 

If your teeth have become smaller due to erosion, our team can determine what’s causing the breakdown in enamel and address the source of erosion. Then, we can use cosmetic dental procedures such as dental bonding to restore your beautiful smile. 

If tooth loss and bone resorption are to blame for the shift in tooth size and appearance, we can perform bone grafts to boost jawbone density, using dental implants to replace missing teeth and keep up the bone remodeling process.  

To discover the cause of decreasing tooth size, schedule an appointment with our team by calling or using our online booking feature today.