Top 10 Habits That Ruin Teeth

At our dental office in Highland Park, we like to focus on preventive dental care to ensure the health of our neighbors. This usually means seeing us for regular dental visits at least every six months and following a proper hygiene routine at home. But there are other things you may be doing on a daily basis that are harming your smile and you don’t even know it. In this week’s blog, we’d like to cover the top 10 most common habits that ruin teeth.

• Brushing Too Hard – Your dentist in Highland Park recommends brushing your teeth twice a day using small, gentle circles. If you vigorously scrub away at teeth, you can damage gum tissue and cause it to recede, making teeth super sensitive.

• Crunching Ice Cubes – Ice cubes are hard and aren’t meant for crunching. Their tough texture can cause you to break teeth, damage dental restorations, or create tiny chips in the enamel where bacteria can thrive.

• Eating Lemons – These bright yellow fruits are packed with acid, and when the acid comes in contact with teeth, it can easily erode enamel.

• Biting Nails – The angle your jaw adjusts to while nail biting can cause problems with your jaw, also known as TMJ or TMD. Nail biting may also result in chipped teeth.

• Using Teeth as Tools – Your teeth are meant for chewing, not opening packets or holding things. When they are used in this manner, cracked teeth are incredibly common.

• Playing Sports without a Mouth Guard – Playing any sport without a mouth guard isn’t only potential dangerous for your smile, it’s also dangerous for your brain. Mouth guards protect teeth from elbows, hockey pucks, or baseballs and can help minimize the risk of concussions.

• Drinking Soda – Soft drinks are usually packed with sugar, and as we all know, sugar is terrible for teeth. When sugar is in a liquid format as in soda, it can be even more damaging since it’s being exposed to the entire mouth, usually over a long period of time.

• Chewing on Pencils – Just like you should use your teeth as tools, you also shouldn’t hold or chew on your writing utensils. Pencils and pens alike are hard and can damage teeth pretty easily.

• Smoking or Using Tobacco – Not only is tobacco use bad for overall health, it’s also detrimental for oral health. Smoking or chewing tobacco can discolor teeth and has been linked to gum disease and oral cancer.

• Clenching or Grinding Teeth – Whether you clench or grind out of stress or while you sleep, you’re essentially banging your teeth together over and over again. Habitually clenching or grinding can result in broken teeth or jaw problems(TMJ).

If you found yourself identifying with any of the habits above, we would encourage you to work on breaking them. In the meantime, if you happen to damage your teeth, whether from a bad habit or any other reason, we’ll be happy to get you back to smiling. Give our Highland Park dental office a call to schedule an appointment.