It’s the little things, right? Well, here are ten things to get a grip on to avoid harming your smile with these pesky, little habits.
video transcript
Hi there, Dr. Ashish Patel here to talk to you today about ten bad habits that can actually wreak havoc on your teeth.
10. Nail Biting
Well, two things here: first, a lot of bacteria in your nails. Don’t be putting that in your mouth. The other thing is, by chewing on the nails it can cause small little micro cracks in the teeth and it can chip your teeth, so no nail biting.
9. Hard or Excessive Brushing
We always say use a soft toothbrush, but also the technique. Don’t push down on that toothbrush too hard. This can start to wear away some of the softer enamel, more importantly can do damage to your gums.
8. Heavy Drinking
Any kind of beer, wine, even any kind of spirits dehydrates the mouth and when as it dehydrates the mouth, that plaque and bacteria will sit on your teeth and once it sits on your teeth like that it gets kind of sticky.
7. Using Tobacco
So two things here: one, the smoke dehydrates your mouth as well and two, the nicotine makes the blood vessels constrict and as the blood vessels constrict there’s less circulation blood circulation in the mouth, so that’s number seven.
6. Constant Snacking
Imagine feeding all that bacteria in your mouth constantly throughout the day. It’s better if you eat your meals breakfast, lunch and dinner and then brush your teeth afterwards and then don’t snack at all. You don’t want to keep feeding that bacteria all day long.
5. Ice Cube Chewing
We all love ice cubes, especially the ones that are soft that come out of the vending machines. We don’t want to be chewing on any of that ice. It won’t cause damage to the teeth right now, but it will cause damage to the teeth later.
4. Using Your Teeth As Tools
So we all have had a moment where we gotta hold something in our mouth, either cut something, open a letter, hold some needle or thread or fishing line. Don’t use your teeth as tools, use tools to do that.
3. Thoughtless Chewing
This is kind of like doing bicep curls unconsciously all the time. Eventually that muscle is going to fatigue. Same thing with thoughtless chewing. It puts wear on your teeth, it causes these muscles to get fatigued so don’t chew thoughtlessly
2. Skipping Your Regular Brushing & Flossing
If your teeth are really healthy and you’re not prone to cavities and you haven’t had too many cavities, brushing twice a day and flossing once a day is the rule but if you get cavities and you’re more prone to cavities we want you to brush even more.
1. Grinding and Clenching
Now grinding and clenching can happen subconsciously, most of the time it happens at night, we don’t even know that it’s happening. It was not that it’s necessarily doing damage right now but it’s putting micro cracks in the deep and those teeth can end up fracturing if the time goes on in the future.
So to keep your teeth healthy, please avoid these top ten habits and I hope this helps you.