12 bad habits that seemingly ruin your teeth

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2/12 –

Play with your lip or tongue piercing
Got a mouth piercing and tempted to play with it all day? Stop right away, or you may injure yourself. You can end up wearing down your tooth enamel, in some cases even fracturing or displacing them. You are also much more sensitive to the risk of loosening.

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3/12 –

Chew ice cubes
If you have the urge to chew on ice cubes, you may have pagophagia. This disorder arises from a nutritional deficiency or an emotional disorder. Chewing small frozen pieces damages your teeth, weakening your enamel. You can also develop cavities, and in the worst case, injure your teeth or gums. This is why we strongly advise you to consult a doctor if you experience this need.

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4/12 –

Do not brush your teeth
You know it perfectly well: if you do not wash your teeth, you will quickly develop oral and dental problems of all kinds, such as cavities, gum infections, bleeding, etc. This is why it is essential to brush your teeth after each meal, or at least morning and evening, in order to properly maintain your mouth. Ideally, floss between your teeth before brushing, which should last two minutes to be fully effective.

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5/12 –

Snack between meals
When you ingest a food, it creates acidity in your mouth, which can eventually attack your enamel. Sweet, sour, and sticky foods (such as candy) speed up the growth of bacteria, which can lead to cavities. This is why the UFSBD (the French Union for Oral Health) recommends limiting yourself to four meals a day, and preferably including your sugary foods in your meals.

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6/12 –

Brush your teeth right after a meal
When you eat, the foods you eat create acidity in the mouth. And if you wash your teeth right after eating your food, or just drinking coffee, you promote the penetration of acidic agents into your enamel, and into the dentin just below. This is why dentists recommend that you wait at least 30 minutes before brushing.

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7/12 –

Bite one’s nails
If this habit damages your manicure, it is not without consequences for your tooth enamel, which is damaged and can even crack. Also, you may end up experiencing jaw pain, the tension of which can then induce headaches.

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8/12 –

Share your drinks with your friends
Like your toothbrushes, don’t share your glasses with other people. You run the risk of sharing germs and bacteria that are transmitted through saliva, and in particular cavities which are contagious!

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9/12 –

Sucking his thumb
If the sucking reflex is natural in small children, it is nevertheless not recommended to continue sucking on their pacifier or their thumb after the age of 6. This is when the permanent teeth start to grow. It is therefore strongly recommended to stop this habit, at the risk of deforming the teeth and the palate, and having to resort to orthodontics to put the dentition back in place.

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10/12 –

Using your teeth as a tool
Your teeth are made for tearing up food, but certainly not for cutting scotch tape or opening a beer! Be careful not to use your teeth like this, at the risk of breaking your enamel, fracturing your teeth or opening your gums!

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11/12 –

Using a toothpick too frequently
If the toothpick may seem practical to you to remove the small piece of meat stuck between your teeth, instead prefer a brush or dental floss. In fact, repeated use of toothpicks is not recommended. It erodes enamel, causing teeth and gum tissue to retract, which can then lead to oral infections and bad breath.

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12/12 –

To smoke
While smoking is harmful to your overall health, it also affects the balance of your mouth. It is a source of bad breath, it promotes the development of tartar, and it also causes infections in the gums, which can then loosen. Among the elements in cigarette smoke, tar tends to color teeth brown, while nicotine damages enamel.