It makes sense to try and look after your teeth as they are the only genuine set that you get in your life, but a combination of a few bad habits and a lack of good oral hygiene can soon take its toll. Having a current plan at Carefree Dental might help to ease the financial pain you might feel when you visit your dentist, but if you can follow a few basic tips and learn to understand what things can hurt your teeth, you may well be able to spend less time in the dentist’s chair.
Kick some of those habits
It is in our DNA to be creatures of habit, so once we start doing something on a regular basis, it can be hard to stop. This is bad news if you develop some habits of which you may not actually be aware, which are causing some issues with the health of your teeth and gums.
Teeth grinding
One of the big problems with teeth grinding is sometimes we don’t even know we are doing it, especially when it is happening in your sleep. Teeth grinding, which is also sometimes referred to as bruxism, is likely to have the effect of gradually and systematically grinding down your teeth. As the majority of us tend to do this while we are asleep, it might only be discovered as a cause of your headaches and sore jaw, when your dentist notices the damage that is being done to your teeth.
Stress and poor sleeping habits are often common causes that trigger the onset of bruxism, so try to find some ways to relax and improve your sleeping habits. Alternatively, you may want to consider a mouth guard that you can wear at night in order to prevent damaging your teeth. Check-in with the dentist in greenbelt to discuss what would be best for your situation.
Cut out the candy
Easier said than done for a number of us when you have a sweet tooth and you want to satisfy those cravings. Gummy candy hurts your teeth and is one of the primary causes of cavities, which is not really surprising when you consider that these high-fructose lumps of corn syrup attach themselves to your teeth and leave some residue on them, for a good while after you have swallowed the sweet.
This allows what is left to have a party, allowing the sugars and acids to feast away on your enamel, making your teeth weaker and more susceptible to cavities. If there could be anything worse than that for your teeth, sour candies would be an excellent candidate. They have acidity levels that a battery would be envious of, so if you value your teeth, they shouldn’t be allowed to get anywhere near your mouth, however tempting they might be.
Lemons suck
Talking of acidic things, there are some of us who like to suck lemons. Whilst this is not a habit that appeals to all of us for sure, as it is an acquired taste to suck a lemon rather than add it to a drink or as an ingredient, if you are someone who likes to do this, there are some good reasons to lay off the lemons.
The simple reason for this advice is that this citrus fruit is highly acidic, and repeated exposure to this sort of level of acidity will cause some serious corrosion of the enamel that protects your teeth.
Ice cubes
Some of us quite like the habit of chewing ice cubes. As they are made from water, you might wonder what harm that is going to do to your teeth. Biting down on an ice cube to break it up, can cause hairline cracks in your tooth enamel and leave your teeth more exposed to erosion. The other point to consider about chewing ice cubes is the fact that there are plenty of dentists who can tell you about patients who have broken their teeth in this way.
Stop the soda
If there is one habit the nation probably shares more than any other, it is drinking soda. So many of us gulp down these fizzy drinks on a regular basis, but it is a habit that is cited as being one of the biggest culprits when it comes to things that hurt your teeth and decay in people of all ages. The sugar and acid in these drinks mean that they should be regarded as a treat, not a regular drink, and if you can stop the soda or limit your intake to one a day, you would be doing yourself a big favor.
Lydia Middleton is a dental hygienist who wants to inform people of ways to have healthier and better-looking teeth. She writes articles for health as well as lifestyle blogs sharing her insider knowledge.
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