Eva Lear
If you brush and floss your teeth regularly and keep up with your six monthly examinations and cleanings with us here at the Central Park South Dental Care, then hopefully you generally enjoy good dental health. Good oral hygiene combined with great preventative dentistry will help you enjoy all the benefits of having a healthy and well maintained smile. However you could be undermining all these efforts if you have bad oral habits. We’ve listed just a few habits that could damage your teeth.
This is a very common mistake as some people believe that by using a hard toothbrush they can clean their teeth more effectively. In fact you only need a soft bristled or medium bristled brush to achieve great results as it’s more down to your technique.
You don’t need to scrub at your teeth to get them clean and brushing them too hard increases the risk of damaging your tooth enamel and your gums. If you’d like some advice on improving your brushing technique then please just ask us.
Biting your nails or using your teeth to open packets can cause small fractures or chips in your teeth. If you are a nail biter, think about painting your nails with an anti-biting solution or perhaps treat yourself to regular manicures as a deterrent.
This might seem harmless but ice cubes can be very hard and are crunching on them can damage your teeth. If you don’t believe us, just think about the sharp blades of a blender and how hard they have to work to crunch up ice.
Every year we see far too many dental injuries caused by playing sports without a mouthguard. If you are guilty of this, think about having a custom mouthguard. It’s a far cheaper option than having to repair or even replace teeth as a result of an injury. Our mouthguards are hard wearing, neutral tasting and comfortable to wear. Just ask us for more information.
Lots of people will continually sip on a beverage, but this greatly increases the risk of tooth decay as your teeth will be exposed to sugars for longer periods of time. Diet beverages are no better as they are often acidic, increasing your risk of acid erosion that will damage your tooth enamel.
Teeth grinding and clenching is a habit called bruxism that can cause a great deal of damage to your teeth and gums. Ultimately it can even result in tooth loss. Unfortunately it’s usually a nocturnal habit, but if you think you may clench and grind then please come and see us for a checkup as we can soon diagnose this problem. Bruxism can often be treated with the use of a night splint or mouthguard that will prevent your teeth from contacting, enabling you to sleep peacefully without fear of damaging your teeth.
Please remember that all of our friendly dental team here at the Central Park South Dental Care is always available for you to chat to about your dental health. If you have any questions whatsoever then please don’t hesitate to ask.
