Bad Habits that Create Oral Health Problems

Four Bad Habits that Effect Your Oral Health

Many people are damaging their teeth without even knowing it. Some of our everyday habits may seem innocent enough but that may actually be doing extensive damage to our mouth. Here are some of the worst habits you need to break in order to protect your oral health.

Nail Biting

Many, many people have the bad habit of biting their nails – not only is this practice unhygienic and can put individuals at risk for contracting illnesses, but it can also permanently damage nail beds and even do damage to your teeth. Kicking the habit can be hard, especially for those who have been biting their nails for a long time. For women, getting a manicure or wearing fake nails can help them to stop biting – for anywhere, using a nail biting deterrent such as dentatonium saccharide can also help.

Using Teeth as Tools

Everyone is guilty of using their teeth to open something at least once if not every once and a while, even though our parents have always told us not to! If you are using your teeth as a tool on a regular basis, this habit needs to stop immediately. Instead of using teeth to open a package, take the extra few seconds to get a pair of scissors or actual tool to get it open. Using teeth to open things or for things other than eating or chewing can cause major damage to the teeth and gums that can be a problem.

Incorrectly Using Toothpicks

Major damage to the teeth and gums is possible when someone over uses and is too aggressive when using toothpicks. Should you have food or something else lodged between your teeth, dentists recommend using toothpicks gently and sparingly to prevent damage. Should something be stuck, a better approach is to take some time and floss the object away or brush the teeth to get the object dislodged. Doing this will help keep teeth and gums safe and keep them healthy.

Chewing on Ice

Chewing on ice may seem refreshing, but it puts a lot of unneeded pressure on the teeth. If you have the compulsion to chew on something, opt for sugar-free gum. Should the urge to chew on ice continue, it may be worth making a trip to the doctor – some studies have shown that the compulsion to chew on ice can be a sign of iron deficiency and anemia, which could lead to bigger problems down the road.

To make sure your teeth are healthy, consider signing up for and using a discount dental plan like Wellness Dental Plan before the end of the year. For information on all of our plans, click here.

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