Many of us will have habits that we are fully aware of, and if we don\u2019t, others usually remind us of them. Some habits can be good of course and help us to spend our days efficiently. Other habits though can be potentially concerning and in today’s blog we are going to look at some that can have a negative impact on your oral health.<\/p>\n
As ever, if you recognise anything here that relates to you and you would like to discuss any resultant tooth damage with one of our Burton dentists, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us at the SG Dental and Implant Centre here in Burton.<\/p>\n
This is quite a common one, but one that is often done with the best of intentions. We are often told, from a young age, to \u2018brush your teeth well\u2019 It makes sense at that age that means giving them a \u2018proper scrubbing\u2019. This is often a habit that stays with us throughout our lives. Unfortunately, applying too much pressure when you brush your teeth can be quite damaging to the enamel on the teeth and can cause premature wearing. This in turn heightens the risk of tooth decay<\/a> and also the likelihood of sensitive teeth. A gentle circular motion, preferably with an electric toothbrush, is all that is needed to clean your teeth.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n This one is a classic but, not only are your nails quite hard, your teeth will often slip off the nails and clash against each other. This could lead to small chips appearing. While these may well just be cosmetic, they can spoil a smile and also, potentially, start to weaken the structure of the affected teeth, making them more prone to breaking in the future.<\/p>\n On a similar subject, it should be remembered that your teeth are made for chewing food and not for opening packets, tearing paper, and, worst of all, opening bottles. All of these can cause damage though opening bottles could even cause facial disfigurement if you slip.<\/p>\n Some of us probably retain this habit from our childhood. Especially on a hot day, crunching ice can feel quite refreshing. Ice though, is quite hard and biting down hard on ice cubes is a sure way of discovering which of your teeth are weak! Cracks, breakages and tooth sensitivity can all occur if you do this and it is definitely best avoided.<\/p>\n Some of us probably do this to a degree during the day, especially when we are tense. It tends to happen worse at night though. There can be many reasons for this and it can be difficult to address but if you grind your teeth in the day, your \u2018muscle memory\u2019 may mean that there is more chance of doing it at night too. There are no guarantees, but trying to eliminate daytime teeth grinding could help to prevent worn and broken teeth<\/a> from night time bruxism.<\/p>\n Most of us probably snack to some degree. Long gone are the days when we all sit down only at mealtimes to eat. The occasional snack isn\u2019t really harmful but if you are a constant snacker or \u2018grazer\u2019, you could be damaging your teeth. There are two reasons for this. Firstly, many snacks will contain high amounts of sugar which we know is not good for your teeth. The lesser known factor though is that when we eat, our enamel softens for half an hour or so. Constant snacking means that the enamel doesn\u2019t get time to recover and enamel erosion is likely. This can cause our teeth to become painfully sensitive and also more prone to damage and decay.<\/p>\n Delaying or doing nothing can obviously be a problem if we don\u2019t clean our teeth, but one of the biggest issues for dentists is when patients put off contacting us when they suspect something is wrong. A slight throbbing of a tooth or a little bleeding when you brush your teeth may not seem serious, but if problems like this aren\u2019t addressed soon enough, the issue can be quite significant. This often means that instead of a small filling for example, a root canal procedure may become necessary; all because you didn\u2019t pick up the phone and call our Burton dental practice when you probably should have done. The same applies if you have to cancel an appointment. Please make a new one straight away. It is all too easy to fall out of the habit of regular checkups, an essential part of good dental care.<\/p>\n If you would like to discuss any of the above with us or would like to make an appointment to see the dentist or hygienist at the SG Dental and Implant Centre, please call us today on 01283 845345<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We all have habits we find hard to kick. The following are some that are likely to damage your oral health. Many of us will have habits that we are fully aware of, and if we don\u2019t, others usually remind …<\/p>\nBiting your nails<\/h3>\n
Chewing on ice<\/h3>\n
Grinding your teeth<\/h3>\n
Snacking<\/h3>\n
Procrastination<\/h3>\n