Good habits help you get through your daily routine. However, some types of fussing and fidgeting can actually be harmful to your teeth. It takes more than brushing and flossing to keep your pearly whites healthy. In this article, learn more about the bad habits you’ve never thought could put your dental health at risk and how to break them.
Brushing Your Teeth Too Hard
Brushing your teeth regularly is the best thing you can do for your teeth. If you brush your teeth too hard, however, it can damage not only your teeth but your gums as well. So what happens when you do?
According to Health magazine, when you brush your teeth too vigorously, you irritate your gums and wear down your teeth’s enamel. This causes cavities and sensitive teeth. Fortunately, there’s a way to remedy this problem.
Ditch that hard-bristled toothbrush and instead use an ADA-approved soft-bristled toothbrush. Toothbrushes approved by the ADA (American Dental Association) are soft enough to prevent any damage to your gums and teeth. But their firmness is enough to clean your teeth and remove plaque.
Grinding, Gnashing, and Clenching Your Teeth Often
Bruxism is the proper term for people who unintentionally grind, gnash, and clench their teeth. It is an unconscious stress response. That’s why many who has it only do it when they’re asleep. It’s a way to tell if a person had a stressful day. It can also occur in people with a bad bite and missing or misaligned teeth. But whether you have bruxism or grind your teeth intentionally, you can be damaging your teeth and jaw.
When you grind, gnash, or clench, you might cause your teeth to break. It can also cause facial muscle pain. If grinding, gnashing, and clenching your teeth become too frequent, the joints on your jaw can get damaged, leading to temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ). Thankfully, there are ways to help you minimize bruxism.
Repairs for broken and cracked teeth can include root canals and crown placements. For a bad bite and missing or misaligned teeth, orthodontics treatment can improve the condition. For muscle pain, Botox is often recommended. ADA also recommends using a mouthguard when sleeping.
Biting Stuff
Biting your nails and the end of your pencil can damage your teeth. And so does other stuff you bite to open them. These habits can damage your teeth and even your overall health.
When you bite your nails, you’re damaging your teeth, facial skin, and the nails themselves. Bacteria can be transferred to and from your teeth to your nails and skin. This can lead to infections. The same thing happens when you bite the end of your pencil. You don’t know how many germs that pencil has picked up. Can you even remember where you last placed it?
Nail-biting can also move your teeth out of place, leading to misaligned teeth. This can also happen if you use your teeth often to open or tear stuff such as sachets and packing tape. The worst thing that can happen is if this habit causes your jaw to be dysfunctional.
Putting Off Plans to Visit Your Dentist
Procrastinating will never do you, or your teeth, any good. The longer you put off plans to go to your dentist, the more damage you can cause to your oral health.
Visiting your dentist regularly can help you spot problems with your oral health before they get worse. For example, you might have an impacted wisdom tooth that does not cause noticeable symptoms. To prevent infection, you must schedule an appointment with your dentist every six months and get a yearly dental X-ray. This way, you’ll also know if you need filling replacements.
Making an effort to schedule an appointment with your dentist can help prevent teeth problems before they occur or worsen.
Drinking and Eating Too Many Sweets
The worst you can do to your oral health is to drink and overeat sweets.
When you drink sugary beverages and eat sweet snacks, your teeth become covered with sugar. According to WebMD, bacteria in your mouth will feed on the sweet treats, creating acids that erode teeth enamel. This causes tooth decay, leading to cavities and sensitive teeth.
On the other hand, if you regularly suck on hard candies and chew bubblegum, you can also damage your jaw because of overuse. They also present another set of problems if you choose to go sugarless. Sorbitol, an artificial sweetener found in sugarless candies and gum, can cause digestive issues.
For Overall Health
Chewing on ice, drinking too much wine, eating too acidic food, sucking your thumb or fingers, and picking your teeth with toothpicks are also bad habits for your teeth.
While all of the habits mentioned in this article affect your oral health temporarily until they’re fixed, some pose long-term risks. The best remedy you can provide for your teeth is to practice good habits instead. It will ultimately benefit your overall health in the long run.
Meta title: 5 Bad Habits That Can Harm Your Teeth
meta desc: You brush and floss your teeth regularly. Still, you have cavities, and your teeth are sensitive to cold. What could be wrong? You could be doing something that’s hurting your teeth. Check out below if you have habits that put your teeth at risk.