Avoiding Poor Dental Habits Can Help Your Smile Last a Lifetime

A healthy and beautiful smile enhances your life in numerous ways, and the average dental patient is pretty handy at effective oral care. However, many patients have poor dental habits that they may not know pose a risk to their teeth. To help your natural smile last a lifetime, we discourage these three harmful dental habits:

– Crunching ice. Many people enjoy chewing ice cubes to reduce food cravings or refresh their mouths on a hot day, but the amount of pressure required to break down ice’s rigid structure can hurt your gums or crack and chip in your teeth. You may also experience tooth sensitivity from the cold temperature. Sugarless gum is a much safer chewing substance.

– Tearing open packaging with your teeth. Reaching for the scissors isn’t nearly as easy as tearing open a packet with your teeth, but this can cause chipped and cracked teeth and the development of painful abscesses. Teeth should be reserved for chewing food.

– Sucking on cough drops. You may not know this, but a cough drop and hard candy contain about the same amount of sugar. When mixed with the bacteria in your smile, this sugar produces enamel-attacking acid and can result in tooth decay. To prevent a cavity, thoroughly brush your teeth after finishing a cough drop.

Our dentist, Dr. Richard D. Guthrie, and dental team are pleased to offer many more dental health tips to help you enjoy a lifelong smile in Ladera Ranch, California. Please feel free to call 949-388-6325 today and schedule a visit to Mission Ranch Dental Aesthetics.