We all know that we should brush and look after our teeth, lest they fall out and leave us with a painful black-tooth grin. Brush twice a day, make sure you floss, try using mouthwash…yadda yadda!
But there could be a number of simple everyday habits, that many of us our guilty of, that could be unknowingly ruining the health of your teeth. Take a look at the list below and if you recognise any bad oral habits, make sure you cut them out and protect those pearly whites!
1. Using Your Teeth To Open Things
Bottle caps, pen lids, stubborn plastic packaging – they’re all just a short example of things that we force our teeth to battle with in a bid to get them open. However, you can damage or chip your teeth, loosen weak ones or damage any work (like fillings) that you’ve had done.
Remember people, teeth are not tools! Reach for the bottle opener or the scissors instead.
2. Brushing Too Soon After Eating
If you’ve had a later dinner, or have only just finished your breakfast, then brushing your teeth straight away can drive corrosive acids from the food into your teeth, causing more damage than if you hadn’t brushed at all. Dr Howard Gamble, the Academy of General Dentistry’s president, advises that it’s best to wait between 30 to 60 minutes after eating before you brush.
3. Too Much Sugar! (Sweets, Chocolate & Fizzy Drinks)
Do you always find yourself with a chocolate bar and a can of cola at your desk? If so, it’s time to put them down or you could end up saying goodbye to your teeth before you even hit old age.
It’s something we all know about, and have drilled into us from a young age – but to avoid the other, less pleasant kind of drill it’s best to limit your sugary foods to an occasional treat rather than a dietary staple.
4. Incorrect Brushing Techniques
As well as the time at which you brush, there are a number of technical factors which could leave your teeth far less than as minty fresh as they feel.
Brushing too hard can wear away enamel and damage your gums, not brushing for the recommended two minutes won’t give your teeth a thorough enough clean and neglecting to brush in a circular motion will mean your brush won’t tackle that tough plaque that can sit on the gum line.
5. Smoking Cigarettes
Somewhere on the ridiculously long list of health risks that are caused by smoking cigarettes sits the dangers posed to your oral health. The tell-tale yellow teeth that smokers tend to get is as a result of cigarette smoke increasing the growth of the bacteria found in plaque – this extra plaque can cause damage to teeth and gums, leading to tooth loss as well as the heart problems associated with sever gum disease.
If you’re a smoker, you should look at cutting down your habit or giving it up altogether – whether you quit cold turkey, use nicotine replacement therapy or switch to the increasingly-popular electronic cigarettes, it’s something that can make a big impact on your oral health.
6. Chewing On Things (E.g. Pen Lids)
Much like using your teeth as tools, constantly chewing on a pencil, pen lid or the arm of your glasses can have a damaging effect on your teeth. By chomping down on these inedible items, you put pressure on your teeth which can cause them to shift or even crack – you also risk damaging any existing dental work, such as fillings. Stop eating your pens, people!
Featured images:
- License: Creative Commons image source
- License: Creative Commons image source
- License: Creative Commons image source
This guest post was written be Tom McShane, an avid writer and overly-paranoid teeth scrubber. If you can’t find Tom sat in front of his laptop crafting literary wizardry, you’ll find him in the bathroom making his teeth blindingly white. As well as giving up chocolate, Tom’s switch from smoking to VIP Electronic Cigarettes has proved to be a much healthier alternative to smoking.
Electronic cigarettes not only improve your health by not putting smoke into your lungs lungs but they also have physical appearance benefits such as protecting your teeth and fingers!