People turn to dentists for their incredible expertise in oral health. They know a lot about how best to protect the teeth, and if you’re looking to do the same for yours, their advice is invaluable.
That being the case, you should know that there are all kinds of things that dentists would never put into their mouth, as doing so can cause serious dental emergencies. Here are a few examples.
Bottle Caps
You might have seen this trick in a frat house or on the internet—people sometimes open beer bottles with their teeth. As you can imagine, this is absolutely horrible for your teeth.
Metal bottle caps are naturally harder than your enamel, and worse, often have sharp edges that can damage your teeth. Being able to pull this off at all requires a lot of leverage, and if your grip slips, it’s easy to imagine how things can go wrong for your teeth.
Your Fingernails
Some people bite their nails anxiously and do so without even thinking about it. If you’re one of them, you might be a little surprised to hear that this can cause problems for your teeth.
The issue lies not with the nails themselves, but with the teeth clashing together as you bite. Over time this can scrape away some of your enamel, causing sensitive teeth. This can also put a lot of pressure on the jaw, moving it into unnatural positions—if done habitually, this might cause chronic issues with your jaw.
Hard Candy
You’re probably aware that candy is pretty bad for your teeth. Sugar can contribute to the development of plaque and tooth decay, particularly if eaten in excess.
It’s possible to eat some sweets in moderation without doing too much damage to your teeth, but hard candy in particular is absolutely awful for your oral health. This is partially because leaving these hard candies in your mouth to dissolve means that sugar will linger in the mouth, allowing it to further feed your bacteria.
This ignores the possibility of biting into the sweets, which can crack teeth and send you on a trip to the dentist’s office. For this reason, hard candies are at the top of the list of things that dentists will never put into their mouth.
About Our Practice
At Little Rock Family Dental Care, we work hard to make sure that the treatment we offer our patients is as efficient and effective as it can possibly be. However, we also know that our services aren’t the only thing important to maintaining your oral health. What you do outside our office is just as important, which is why we do everything we can to ensure that our patients understand the importance of their oral health.
If you have any questions about foods you ought to avoid, we can be reached at our website or by phone at (501) 514-9205.