So you practice regular dental care? You floss fairly regularly, brush your teeth twice a day and have bi-annual checkups? That’s good!
However, along with proper dental cleaning and care you might be indulging in one or more bad habits that could compromise the health of your teeth. If you are looking forward to a healthy set of teeth that don’t give up even when you get old, here are 5 habits that you should end now:
#1-Crunching Ice and Hard Food
Sure who doesn’t like crunching the left over ice cubes in a drink, yeah? But the truth is it can damage your teeth almost instantly. Chewing on ice cubes causes mini fractures that lead to severe dental problems overtime. Putting the teeth under pressure by chewing on hard foods like popcorn kernel and candies also does the same thing.
Switch to crushed ice if you need your drinks cold and consider chewing something soft and healthy like baby carrots.
#2-Grinding Teeth
Grinding teeth is a nervous habit, also known as bruxism. If you find yourself grinding your teeth unconsciously at any point of the day, stop immediately. This habit applies uneven pressure to your teeth and compels them to move out of position. If you think you grind your teeth in your sleep, you can get an over-the-counter mouth guard to prevent that from happening.
#3-Using Teeth As Tools
People rely on their teeth for a number of odd jobs like uncapping a bottle, opening a bag of snacks, straightening metal objects like spoons, forks and ripping the tags off clothes. This can certainly be hard on your teeth, causing the edges to break and chip off. Before you use your teeth as tools, think about what you are putting in your mouth.
#4-Excessive Bleaching
Although bleaching your teeth can help you whiten your teeth by many shades, but over bleaching can actually make your teeth highly sensitive. Before you move onto bleaching your teeth with OTC products consider consulting your Germantown dentist to learn about the products that would work best for you.
#5-Using A Hard Bristled Tooth Brush
People tend to think that the harder the toothbrush bristles the better it is at cleaning. However, this isn’t the case, especially with older adults. As people age their gums push back, exposing sensitive parts of the teeth like the roots. Under such conditions using a hard bristled brush may cause gum irritation and sensitive teeth.
At Advanced Dental Center we try our best to keep our patients updated with the latest ways they can use to keep their teeth healthy. If you think you are having trouble ending these 5 habits, give us a call and we will surely be able to help you out!
