Fizzy Drinks and Acidity Wore Down Her Front Teeth: A CBD Belapur Case Study in Tooth Erosion

The case: front teeth worn away by acidity and aerated drinks

A woman came to our clinic in CBD Belapur with teeth that had eroded badly. Her enamel, the hard outer layer, had worn away, and the softer yellow layer underneath was showing. The cause was acid. She had a lot of acidity and drank a lot of aerated (fizzy) drinks. Together they had been dissolving her teeth for a long time.

The photo above is how her front teeth looked when she walked in. The two upper front teeth were the worst. The middle of each one had been scooped out, the edges were thin and uneven, and the yellow dentine was exposed. If you have seen teeth like this on yourself, you will know it does not feel good to smile.

Dr. Wendy Lobo rebuilt those two front teeth with root canal treatment and ceramic crowns (caps). The after photo is further down. Both photos are shared with her consent.

How acid and fizzy drinks erode your teeth

Tooth erosion is not decay and it is not from brushing too hard. It is acid dissolving enamel directly, with no bacteria involved. Fizzy drinks are acidic, and so is stomach acid. When either one keeps touching your teeth, enamel softens a little each time. Over months and years, it thins out.

Two things make it worse. The first is sipping. A drink finished in five minutes is a short acid hit. A drink nursed over two hours keeps your mouth acidic the whole time. The second is acid reflux. Many people with long-term acidity have stomach acid reaching their mouth at night without realising it, and it tends to hit the back of the front teeth first.

Enamel does not grow back. That is the difficult part. You can slow erosion down, and you can protect what is left, but once the layer is gone, only a dentist can replace it. When the enamel is gone, the dentine underneath wears much faster, which is why eroded teeth can go from "a bit sensitive" to "hollowed out" quicker than people expect.

The Mouth Healthy site from the American Dental Association explains erosion in more detail if you want to read further.

Why her front teeth needed root canals and ceramic crowns

When erosion is mild, a filling or bonding is often enough. When a tooth has been worn this far, a filling alone has very little tooth left to hold on to. A crown is a cover that fits over the whole tooth, so it restores the shape and protects what remains.

Root canal treatment was part of this plan for the two front teeth. When erosion has gone deep, the nerve inside the tooth can be inflamed or exposed, and that tooth needs the nerve space cleaned and sealed before it is covered. Dr. Wendy is a specialist endodontist, so this is the work she does every day. If you are nervous about it, our root canal myths vs facts guide and our painless root canal guide are worth reading first.

Ceramic was the choice for the crowns because these are front teeth. Ceramic can be matched to the colour of the teeth around it, so it does not look like a cap from across the room. You can read more about material choices in our dental crown guide for Belapur.

What the treatment looks like, in general

• Dr. Wendy examines the teeth and takes X-rays to see how deep the erosion goes and whether the nerve is involved.
• Where the nerve is affected, root canal treatment is done first. The canals are cleaned, shaped and sealed.
• The tooth is shaped for the crown, and an impression or scan is taken so the ceramic crown can be made to fit.
• The ceramic crown is checked for colour, shape and bite, then cemented in place.

The result: two restored front teeth

Here is how the front teeth look after treatment. The hollowed middles and thin edges are gone, and the two crowns blend in with the teeth beside them.

Why we treated only the front two teeth

Her teeth were eroded more widely than just the front two. Some dentists would suggest crowning or veneering the whole set at once. That is a big, expensive step, and it means shaving down teeth that may still do their job.

She did not want to change her whole smile, and Dr. Wendy did not push her to. This is conservation-first dentistry: fix what has to be fixed, protect the rest, and leave the natural teeth alone for as long as they can do their job. The front two teeth were the ones that could not wait, so they were done first.

If you are told that every tooth needs covering, ask why. Sometimes it is right. Often a smaller plan works just as well, and you can always do more later. You cannot undo a crown once the tooth underneath has been shaped.

When you do not need a crown: early erosion

Not every eroded tooth needs what this patient needed. If your teeth look fine but feel sensitive to cold drinks or sour food, you may be in the early stage. In that case a checkup comes first. A change of habits, a gentler routine and sometimes a simple restoration can be enough.

If you drink fizzy drinks every day and your teeth are fine, you are not doomed either. You do not need to give them up for life. You do need to know how much acid your teeth are taking, and that is something a dentist can look at in a few minutes. If your sensitivity lingers rather than zings, read our guide on tooth sensitivity to hot and cold.

How to protect your teeth from acid

• Drink fizzy drinks in one sitting, not over an hour or two, and use a straw if you can.
• Rinse with plain water afterwards. Do not brush straight away, because softened enamel brushes off more easily. Wait about half an hour.
• Keep fizzy drinks to mealtimes rather than between them, so your mouth gets time to recover.
• If you have constant acidity or reflux, speak to your doctor and tell your dentist. Treating the acid helps your teeth too.
• Use a fluoride toothpaste and come in for a checkup, so changes are caught early.

Tooth erosion treatment at Dr. Wendy's Dental Clinic, CBD Belapur

Dr. Wendy's Dental Clinic is at Shop No 33, Sector-1 Shopping Complex, Police Line, Sector 1, CBD Belapur, a short walk from Belapur railway station. Patients come from CBD Belapur, Kharghar, Nerul and Seawoods. The clinic has 200+ Google reviews at 5.0 stars, and 342+ reviews across platforms.

Exact treatment depends on how far the erosion has gone, so there is no single price for a case like this. You will get a clear plan and quote at the consultation, and you decide what to do and when. If your case is closer to the root canal side, you can read about root canal treatment in Belapur.