Are You Ruining Your Teeth with These Bad Habits?

If you brush and floss daily, you may think you’re doing all you can to keep your teeth and gums healthy. But you could be sabotaging your efforts with a few harmful tendencies. Find out if your habits are on the list.

Most people understand that daily brushing and flossing are the minimum requirements for good oral health. The key word here is “minimum.” You need to partner with an experienced dental team to help you monitor your teeth and gums and also detect and treat problems early before they progress.

At Los Gatos Family Dental in Los Gatos, California, Dr. Sara Ghasemi offer full-service general and cosmetic dentistry services to keep your smile healthy and dazzling. From Invisalign® clear aligners that straighten a crooked smile to dental implants that replace missing teeth, we repair, restore, and revitalize your smile.

We take a closer look at some common habits that wreak havoc on your smile so you can avoid them and protect your oral health.

Bad habits that can ruin your teeth

While age, disease, and injury take their toll on your teeth and make some dental services inevitable, there’s a lot you can do to prevent these problems. Here are a few bad habits to kick.

Aggressive brushing

When you wash a skillet or the tires on your car, the harder you scrub, the better. Unfortunately, many people bring this mindset to their teeth brushing game and end up damaging their teeth and gums.

To avoid this, use a soft-bristled toothbrush to massage your teeth and gums; don’t scrub. Simply changing your vocabulary can help.

Using your teeth as tools

If you rip open bags and tighten knots with your teeth, you risk cracking and chipping your teeth or even causing jaw damage. Resist the urge to use your teeth like a second pair of hands, and grab a pair of scissors instead.

Grinding your teeth

Technically called bruxism, teeth grinding is a hard habit to kick because it often occurs while you’re sleeping and unaware of the problem. But you may notice the telltale signs: a sore jaw, headache, bruised cheeks, and stress fractures in your teeth.

We can help you break the habit and save your teeth with a custom-fitted mouthguard.

Biting your nails

Nail biting may seem to fall under the same category as using your teeth as tools, but in many cases, it’s more than a utilitarian act. You may bite your nails in response to stress, boredom, or other psychological triggers, so quitting may take some effort. Try keeping your nails trimmed short or applying a bitter-tasting nail polish.

Prolonged nail biting keeps your jaw in a jutted position for long periods of time and can contribute to jaw dysfunction, not to mention the risk of cracking or chipping your teeth.

Grazing

The more often you put food in your mouth, the higher your risk for tooth decay. The bacteria in your mouth love to snack on whatever you snack on, so constantly grazing gives them a feast all day long. Shoot for balanced meals that keep you full so you don’t feel compelled to snack, and also cut back on sugary drinks and foods.

Crunching

Your teeth are hard and durable, but so is ice — and something’s gotta give. If you’re an ice cruncher, you put yourself at risk for breaking a tooth or a filling. The same goes for hard candy and certain nuts.

What to do if you’ve already ruined your teeth

The first step toward fixing your ruined teeth is to stop the habits that damaged them. While you work on that, the experts at our practice can repair the damage and restore your smile. If decay has set in, you may need a filling. If bruxism has worn down the enamel and cracked or chipped your teeth, you may need veneers or crowns.

To find out which treatment is right for you, schedule an appointment at Los Gatos Family Dental today by calling our friendly staff or booking online.