A healthy smile is a happy smile, but good dental hygiene isn’t always easy to maintain. If it were, the world probably wouldn’t be in a dental health crisis, with billions of people affected by oral diseases.
Not only is this the result of poor dental hygiene practices, but also bad habits. Even if you brush and floss regularly, your oral health could still be going downhill because of these habits. If you want to have healthier, white teeth, this is what you need to tackle. And if you need a good dentist, check out the professional dental clinic in Ballwin.
Eating sugary foods
It’s a fairly well-established fact that eating a lot of sugary substances can be bad for your teeth. However, it’s not just what you’re consuming that could be affecting your oral health, but also how you’re consuming it. For instance, crunching on things like ice and popcorn kernels can damage your teeth, leading to microscopic fractures that worsen over time. You might think something like ice would be relatively harmless, but the cold temperature and brittleness of this stuff can actually be very problematic.
Teeth grinding
Grinding your teeth isn’t the most pleasant thing to do, especially when you consider the impact that it might have on your oral health. Doing it too often can really wear down your teeth, which isn’t ideal if you want them to be strong and healthy. Unfortunately, this isn’t something that people always do consciously, and it may be influenced by factors such as stress and anxiety. While dentists can’t help you with that, they can provide mouth guards that will protect your teeth from grinding. If you’re looking for somewhere that offers this, Pure Dentistry creates custom mouth guards using the best quality materials around. It just one of the many services that you can get from this dentists in Brisbane.
Teeth As Tools
Hands are one of the greatest tools we have in life, but sometimes they don’t match up to the power of teeth. People use their mouths for a surprising number of everyday hacks, from opening packets to ripping off clothes tags. You probably don’t think twice about doing this, but you may do once you realize how bad this is for your teeth. Using them this way could be causing untold damage, weakening them to the point where they might one day chip or fracture. If you don’t want that to happen, start using scissors and other actual tools for these purposes, rather than your teeth.
Biting nails
Biting your nails is one of the worst habits you can have, and not just because of the damage it does to your fingers. Doing this regularly can harm your teeth, weakening them, and putting them at risk of chipping. This habit is so problematic for your oral health that it can apparently cause your teeth to shift out of place. That’s without even mentioning the risk of passing bacteria from your fingers to your mouth, leading to a whole host of potential infections.
Drinking caffeine
Without caffeine, a lot of people would struggle to get through the day. They need their cup of Joe in the morning to feel human. Unfortunately, this poses a problem for dental health because caffeine is notorious for staining teeth. Drinking too much of it can make a white smile seem like a distant memory, so the less of it you have, the better. Of course, this is easier said than done given how reliant people can be on coffee. So, if you can’t cut caffeine out of your life, just make sure that you’re extra diligent with brushing and flossing, doing the former twice a day.
The wrong toothbrush
Not only is it important to brush every day, but you also need to be doing this with the right kind of toothbrush. If you don’t know what’s best for your teeth, consulting with dentists will probably help. However, as a general rule, it’s best to avoid hard-bristled toothbrushes the older you get. That’s because gums typically recede with age, exposing the vulnerable roots of your teeth. If the bristles are too firm, the damage they do can lead to increased sensitivity and gum irritation, and that’s not what you want.
Not doing enough
Perhaps the worst bad habit when it comes to dental hygiene is not doing enough to look after your teeth. Forgetting to brush one evening or doing a rushed job of flossing might not seem like a big deal, but if this happens repeatedly, it can build up into quite the problem. The best way to avoid this is to establish a regular routine and stick to it, no matter what. The Australian Dental Association has plenty of advice regarding this, suggesting that you brush every morning and evening, replace your manual toothbrush or electric toothbrush head every few months, and floss at least once a day. Sticking to this will make your visits to the dentists a lot smoother in the future.
It’s hard to break out of bad habits, especially if you’ve been doing them for a long time. However, if you want to have healthier, whiter teeth, then finding ways to avoid these is crucial.
