You might not realize it but some of your everyday activities could be ruining your teeth. Teeth are more fragile than you’d think so it’s important to take good care of them while you still can.
Start ‘em off young
Let’s start at the beginning, do your children a favour and start them off on the right foot. Never send your child to bed with a bottle whether it be milk or juice. The sugar will sit on your child’s teeth all night and will eat away at the enamel. Also, avoid thumb sucking at all costs. It’s normal for small children to want to suck on their thumbs but once their adult teeth start coming in, help your child to break this habit as thumb sucking can cause misalignment in teeth.
Chipping away at your teeth
Next, here are some habits that can chip your teeth: chewing on ice, using your teeth to open things, grinding your teeth, clenching your jaw, nail biting, and biting on pens. Even tongue and lip piercings can damage your teeth if you bite down on them hard enough.
Foods that are ruining your smile
It’s common knowledge that sugary foods can eat away at your enamel, cut down your consumption of candy, soda, sports drinks, fruit juice, and even cough drops, which are full of sugar and are often overlooked. If you do indulge in these sugary items make sure to brush your teeth after.
You may have never considered that snacking on food in general is damaging your teeth. When you snack on foods frequently rather than having larger meals your mouth is actually producing less saliva, which is leaving more food residue between your teeth, this of course is bad for them. Similarly, alcohol consumption dehydrates your mouth and if you drink frequently you’ll begin producing less saliva, which could cause tooth decay.
Sticky foods are bad for your teeth because well, they stick to your teeth. It’s not good to let anything sit on your teeth for a long period of time so wash these foods down with water.
Brush carefully
While brushing your teeth is a crucial part of your dental health, brushing immediately after consuming acidic foods can actually harm your teeth. The acid
softens your teeth making them much more sensitive when you start brushing. Also, surely everyone’s heard of not brushing too hard, while it’s important to brush away all of the plaque you don’t want to harm your enamel, try a soft toothbrush instead that’s recommended by the Canadian Dental Association.