Bad habits, we all have them, and while some are harmless time wasters, others can have long lasting health implications. If a bad habit involves your mouth, then you can expect some repercussions at some point with maintaining good oral health and hygiene having been implicated in maintaining good overall health for a number of years.
At Aberdeen Dental Arts, our team of dental professionals provide an extensive scope of dental services using the latest state-of-the-art technologies in general and family dentistry through to high end cosmetic dentistry. We promote prevention and wellness, will assess your risk for the development of dental problems in the future, and work with you to minimize their development. Having healthy teeth also means avoiding those bad habits that adversely affect your teeth and your health. Here’s some things to look out for, for your entire family. Habits often start young and it’s never too early to start. Giving a baby a bedtime bottle of juice, milk, or formula baths teeth in sugars overnight, putting new teeth on a path to decay. Chewing – on ice, on pencils, or even your finger nails – can chip or even crack your teeth and impact your jaw. Hot foods and cold foods may trigger quick, sharp jabs of pain or a lingering toothache. Sugarless gum is a better option when you feel the need to chew, and try bitter-tasting nail polishes, stress reduction, and setting small, realistic goals to help address situational triggers that lead to a “chewing” habit. When it comes to stress and sleeping habits, teeth grinding, or bruxism, can wear teeth down over time, making it hard to control. Wearing a mouth guard at night can prevent the damage caused by grinding while sleeping. Eating poorly, constantly, or excessive snacking – often involving lots of sweets leaving food bits in your teeth for hours, can lead to tooth decay. Taken to the extreme to where it becomes a serious health issue, binging and purging (bulimia nervosa) can do even more damage to dental health. The strong acids found in vomit can erode teeth, making them brittle and weak and cause bad breath. If you have been purging talk to your doctor. Finally, while these habits can be bad, even life threatening – some dental damage is caused by our own failure to think things through and take appropriate action. Opening stuff with your teeth tops the list. Opening bottle caps or plastic packaging with your teeth may be convenient, but this can cause them to crack or chip. Instead, keep scissors and bottle openers handy - your teeth should only be used for eating. Next, playing sports at any age without a mouth guard can result in a chipped or even a knocked out tooth. Self-fitting mouth guards may be purchased at a store, or preferably you can have one custom made by your professional dentist. The third item in the dental-damaging habits list is tongue piercing. While it may be ‘trendy’, biting down on one can damage teeth, causes gum damage when the metal rubs against them, and it raise the risk of infections and sores in your mouth. Discuss the health risks with your dentist first. If you have questions, or are concerned about your ‘bad habits’, contact us, Aberdeen Dental Arts, the dental office at 250-828-0322 today. Located across from the Aberdeen Mall in Kamloops we provide wheelchair accessible facilities and free parking.