Restore Your Bite. Rebuild Worn Teeth. Rediscover Your Smile.
Have your teeth become shorter, flatter, chipped, or uneven? Does your bite feel different, or has your smile changed over time? At Pearly Dental Care, Dr. Morvarid Khatibian combines cosmetic and restorative dentistry with individualized bite evaluation to rebuild damaged teeth and create a natural-looking, functional smile.
Real Patient Transformation: Worn Teeth & Bite Height Restoration
These before-and-after photographs show a real Pearly Dental Care patient’s smile rehabilitation. The images illustrate changes in tooth length, shape, appearance, and bite presentation following treatment. Individual treatment plans and results vary.
Clinical before-and-after: anterior teeth
Smile before-and-after: smile appearance
Clinical before-and-after: bite and tooth proportions
What Is Bite & Worn Teeth Rehabilitation?
Bite and worn teeth rehabilitation restores teeth that have lost shape, length, or structure while considering how the teeth work together. Treatment may involve rebuilding worn surfaces, improving chewing contacts, protecting weakened teeth, and addressing factors contributing to further wear. In extensive cases, a coordinated full-mouth rehabilitation may be recommended.
Why Do Teeth Wear Down?
Attrition: Tooth-to-Tooth Wear
Grinding, clenching, and tooth-to-tooth contact can flatten chewing surfaces, shorten front teeth, and contribute to fractures.
Abrasion: Mechanical Wear
Repeated mechanical friction, including aggressive brushing or certain habits, can gradually remove tooth structure.
Erosion: Chemical Wear
Frequent acid exposure from foods, beverages, reflux, or other gastric sources can dissolve enamel and expose sensitive dentin.
These processes often occur together. Understanding the cause of wear is essential before planning lasting restorations.
Signs You May Benefit From an Evaluation
- Shorter, flatter, chipped, or uneven teeth
- Sensitivity, exposed dentin, or rough edges
- Difficulty chewing or a bite that feels different
- Repeatedly fractured fillings, crowns, or veneers
- Reduced tooth display or changes in smile proportions
- Jaw muscle fatigue or evidence of grinding and clenching
Why Bite Evaluation Matters
Severe wear presents a special challenge: restorations need adequate space for natural tooth contours and appropriate material thickness, while the bite must remain comfortable and functional. Dr. Khatibian evaluates how the upper and lower teeth contact, jaw movements, remaining tooth structure, and available restorative space before recommending treatment.
Invisalign or Orthodontics Before Restorations
Sometimes the best first step is to move teeth into a better position before rebuilding them. As teeth wear, compensatory eruption or tooth movement may reduce the space available for restorations. Dr. Khatibian may recommend Invisalign, clear aligners, or other orthodontic treatment before restorative care to reposition teeth, improve alignment, and create restorative space.
- Create space for bonding, veneers, onlays, or crowns
- Correct selected compensatory tooth movement
- Potentially reduce unnecessary removal of healthy tooth structure
- Establish more favorable bite contacts and smile proportions
Planning Your Smile Before Final Restorations
Digital scans, photographs, diagnostic designs, and, when indicated, mock-ups or provisional restorations can help evaluate tooth length, appearance, speech, bite contacts, and chewing comfort. A Smile Test Drive or temporary restorations may allow changes to be assessed before definitive restorations are completed.
Treatment Options
Composite Bonding
A conservative option for rebuilding selected chipped or worn teeth when sufficient healthy tooth structure remains.
Porcelain Veneers
For appropriately selected front teeth, veneers may improve tooth length, shape, and smile proportions.
Crowns, Onlays & Partial-Coverage Restorations
These may rebuild worn biting surfaces or protect structurally compromised teeth. The design depends on remaining tooth structure and functional forces.
Full-Mouth Rehabilitation
When many teeth are affected, treatment may combine restorative methods and, when appropriate, orthodontic preparation to coordinate the entire bite.
Protecting Your Restored Smile
Long-term maintenance includes managing the causes of wear, such as grinding or acid exposure, and monitoring the bite and restorations. A custom night guard may be recommended for selected patients. No restoration is permanent, and future maintenance or repair may be needed.
Why Choose Pearly Dental Care?
Dr. Morvarid Khatibian combines cosmetic goals with restorative planning, emphasizing natural tooth preservation, individualized bite assessment, digital scanning and imaging, and clear communication. We welcome patients at our Sunnyvale and San Jose offices and from nearby Silicon Valley communities.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can severely worn teeth be rebuilt?
Often yes. Bonding, onlays, crowns, veneers, or combinations may be appropriate depending on remaining tooth structure.
Do I need Invisalign before restoring worn teeth?
Not always. Orthodontics may help reposition teeth and create space in selected cases, especially when compensatory eruption affects a segment of the arch.
Will my bite need to be opened?
Not necessarily. Changes to vertical dimension are considered only when supported by the clinical evaluation and restorative goals.
Why use temporary restorations?
For complex cases, they can help evaluate appearance, comfort, speech, and function before final restorations.
Can grinding damage new restorations?
Yes. Managing grinding and clenching, sometimes with a protective night guard, can help protect restorations.
How long does treatment take?
Timing varies with the number of teeth involved, orthodontic needs, and the restorative plan.
Will insurance cover worn teeth rehabilitation?
Coverage depends on the plan and whether procedures are considered restorative or cosmetic. Our team can review estimated benefits.
Restore Your Bite. Rebuild Your Smile.
Shortened teeth? Severe tooth wear? Changes in your bite? Schedule a personalized Bite & Worn Teeth Rehabilitation consultation at Pearly Dental Care in Sunnyvale or San Jose.
Treatment recommendations and results depend on individual clinical findings. Changes in jaw position or vertical dimension are not necessary for every patient.
