[Repair of tooth wear; restorative-prosthetic aspects]

Tooth wear is considered to be the third major threat to dental health in the industrialized parts of the world next to caries and periodontal disease. Bruxism can be a cause for excessive tooth wear. Thanks to the successes in the prevention and early treatment of the infectious dental diseases, dentitions last longer as result of which tooth wear is becoming more and more of a problem in the preservation of a physiologic dentition throughout live. Furthermore there seems to be an increasing tendency for the occurrence of severe tooth wear at very early ages. Early recognition of possible contributing factors for tooth wear by the dental team is of utmost importance to enhance success in treating the problem. Prevention of ongoing damage to the remaining tooth structure must be the starting point of every treatment plan. Repair of tooth wear is in many cases a challenge from a restorative/prosthetic perspective: esthetic and phonetic aspects play an important role along with the restorative and prosthetic choices as well as functional considerations the clinician has to deal with.