On the surface, the rules of good dental health are simple. Brush your teeth at least twice a day, avoid sugary, sticky and highly acidic food and drinks, and visit the dentist regularly. But our teeth require us to go the extra mile, and caring for them needs us to have the mindset not just of cleaning our teeth but of preserving them, protecting them and also paying attention to their structural integrity.
People often take their teeth for granted until something goes wrong with them. Much of the damage our teeth incur is entirely avoidable. Even though our teeth are quite strong, they are not made of steel and can be broken down. As such, there are many things we do daily that seem quite harmless but do a lot of damage to our teeth. Restraining from these behaviours will ensure long term health and exceptional structure for our teeth.
These habits are;
- Eating too Much Fruit
- Biting Your Nails
- Opening Stuff With Your Teeth
- Keeping Toothbrushes for Too Long
Why Is Eating Fruit Bad For Your Teeth?
The fruit is healthy to a point. Even though it contains a lot of healthy ingredients, its high sugar content makes eating a lot of fruit bad for your teeth. When there’s a lot of sugar in fruit, that sugar ends up in your mouth, and ultimately leads to the development of the bacteria which leads to decay and dental disease.
What Can Happen if You Bite Your Nails Too Much?
Nail-biting is a bad habit that many people struggle to overcome, but it doesn’t just affect the health of your nails. This habit is also bad for your teeth. It exposes your teeth to bacteria which can lead to infection and decay. It can also break down enamel which makes your teeth weaker and shift the position of your teeth.
Why Opening Stuff With Your Teeth is Bad
Opening a letter or removing a stubborn bottle cap seems harmless enough, right? Wrong. Our teeth should only be used for eating and chewing and doing anything more with them can break down the structure of our teeth. It can expose your teeth to chips, breaks because of the force we apply to open a small item with teeth. Use a bottle opener and other tools. The same goes for biting and chewing items like pens and pencils. These are hard items which can lead to our teeth breaking.
Why Keeping Toothbrushes for Too Long Is Bad for Teeth
Very often, when we buy a toothbrush, it’s something we just forget for a long time. But this can cause damage to our dental health. Like anything, products like toothbrushes deteriorate over time, meaning they lose their ability to effectively clean teeth.
The longer we keep a toothbrush the less effective it becomes, outside of the 6 months after we purchase it. Also, if we get sick, the toothbrush will end up with bacteria that can not only attack our teeth but exposes us to the risk of getting sick again. Keep an eye on how long you keep your toothbrush and get a new one before it’s too late.
Taking care of your teeth while wearing orthodontics
When wearing orthodontics, it is especially important not to substitute a bottle opener for your teeth. This can damage the brackets and wires, causing you pain and discomfort as well as requiring you to get the broken brackets and wires replaced.
Your oral hygiene routine while wearing braces is a vital part of successful treatment and brushing and flossing around your braces is so important for the long-term health of your teeth.
Your dental health is important to us, and we’re dedicated to helping you keep your teeth and gums in the best condition possible. If you require orthodontics get in touch with us.
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