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Anyone who has been around babies and toddlers knows that tiny humans use their mouths to learn about their surroundings. For the most part, using our mouths to explore is something that we grow out of, but in some cases oral bad habits and compulsions continue into later childhood or develop in adulthood, which can pose risks to your dental health. Here are a few habits that you should nip in the bud as soon as possible, and some suggestions for how to stop them.
When we provide dentistry for children, thumbsucking is one of the bad habits we watch out for. The biggest risk with sustained thumbsucking is how it affects the bite. Frequently having a thumb in the mouth causes teeth to shift around it. This can lead to problems such as an open bite, where the front teeth protrude and cause a large gap between top and bottom teeth, which can affect the function of the teeth while eating and speaking and affect facial aesthetics. Patients with an unaddressed thumbsucking habit that goes on for years usually end up needing orthodontic treatment (braces) that could have been avoided if the habit had been addressed.
The other risk of thumbsucking is that it can introduce bacteria from the fingers into the mouth, which can cause tooth decay. Thumbsucking is considered normal up until age 3. After that point, you should consult with the dentist or your pediatrician to find a solution to stop the habit, such as oral appliances that block the thumb from entering the mouth or thumb shields that are worn on hands.
Chewing fingernails is a very common bad habit, but many people don’t know it’s just as bad for the health and appearance of your smile as it is for your hands. The protein that makes up your fingernails may be soft enough to bite through, but it’s actually hard enough that it can cause wear to your teeth over time. As a result, the bottom edges of front teeth start to look ragged or uneven and become more vulnerable to cracks or other damage. Ultimately, chewing fingernails is a compulsive behavior related to stress and is often a habit that people inherit. Luckily, because this habit is so common, there are lots of solutions out there. Try putting a bitter tasting solution on your fingers, occupying your hands with a fidget spinner or something else to fiddle with, occupying your mouth with sugar-free gum, or getting a manicure so there are no tempting rough edges or dry cuticles to gnaw on. If your habit has already caused damage to your teeth, the dentist can assess it and repair it with tooth-colored fillings and bonding to return your smile to it’s original appearance.
This may be one of the worst habits for your dental health. While liquid water is great for flushing debris and bacteria away from your teeth, chewing on frozen water is not that far off from chewing on rocks. Ice can wear out your tooth enamel, making teeth more vulnerable to cracking, tooth decay, and sensitivity to hot and cold. If you have fillings, chewing on ice can make them more brittle and prone to failure. Chewing on ice is like asking for a toothache. Like biting your fingernails, you can cope with your urge to chew by substituting ice for sugar-free gum. If you continue to find yourself tempted, consider not including ice in your beverages.
As something we all do every day, it might be surprising that many people do not brush their teeth correctly. While doing it wrong is a lot better than not doing it at all, brushing your teeth correctly can help prevent tooth decay, gum disease, tooth sensitivity & more.
Maybe you had good technique, to begin with, but you’ve let things slip over time. Or maybe you never quite paid attention when your dentist or your parents showed you how it’s done. Either way, here are a few tips for keeping your dental hygiene routine easy and effective.
Holding your brush so the bristles are perpendicular to your teeth is actually not the best way to go. For the outside surfaces of your teeth, hold the brush so the bristles are at a 45-degree angle to your teeth. This allows the bristles to sweep along the gum line, where plaque tends to accumulate most. For the inside surfaces of your teeth, rotate the toothbrush so it’s vertical, and gently scrub your teeth with up and down motions, using the tip of the brush for hard-to-reach spots.
The bumpy surface of your tongue is great at holding on to debris and is a hiding place for bacteria. Cleaning your tongue as part of your brushing routine can help prevent bad breath and even tooth decay by eliminating bacteria that can be transferred from your tongue to your teeth. By the way, you don’t have to use your toothbrush for this. There are many different kinds of tongue scrapers on the market. Try out a few different kinds until you find a favorite, or ask your hygienist for a recommendation.
Fluoride is a mineral that strengthens teeth, prevents decay and can even help heal cavities when they are very small. That’s why we recommend using a toothpaste that contains fluoride. However, if you rinse out your mouth with water right after you brush your teeth, you’re canceling out the affect of this fluoride.
If you’ve ever had a professional fluoride varnish at the dentist, you’ll remember that we always tell you to wait at least half an hour after the treatment to eat or drink anything. That’s because we want to the fluoride to sit on the surface of your teeth for as long as possible so it can do its work. The same is true of fluoride toothpaste. Be sure to spit out the toothpaste foam when you’re done brushing, but don’t rinse out your mouth, with water or mouthwash, for at least a few minutes afterward.
We know that for most of our patients, their favorite part of a dental cleaning is how smooth and clean their teeth feel afterward, not to mention how shiny they are. Tooth polishing has long been part of the dental checkup routine ever since the 1700s when Pierre Fauchard, the father of modern dentistry, recommended it. However, if you’ve had your teeth cleaned recently (and you have, right?) you may have noticed that your dentist or hygienist didn’t polish every single tooth. That’s because the results of recent studies are changing how dentists and dental hygienists approach polishing.
First, let’s do a quick review of what happens during a dental cleaning appointment. The whole point of a dental cleaning is to remove plaque and tartar that has accumulated on your teeth. If not removed, this bacteria-laden debris can lead to cavities and gum disease. The hygienist will go after the most stubborn buildup with an ultrasonic tool, which uses the power of fine vibrations to break up tartar and water to flush it away. Next, the hygienist may use hand tools to remove any smaller spots of buildup and to smooth out the tooth surface.
After your teeth have been thoroughly cleaned and all the plaque and tartar removed, then it’s time for polishing. Most polishing is done with a tiny rubber cup that spins on the end of a hand-held wand. Before polishing your teeth, the hygienist scoops up some prophy paste onto the rubber cup. Prophy paste is like an extra-gritty version of toothpaste, which often comes in similar flavors. The hygienist then applies the prophy paste to your teeth, and the spinning of the cup polishes your teeth and removes stains. After rinsing your mouth, the hygienist may floss your teeth, then apply a fluoride treatment, which helps teeth absorb minerals that make them stronger.
In fact, removing surface stains is the primary purpose of tooth polishing these days. In the past, it was thought that polishing teeth to make them smoother made it harder for the bacteria-laden gunk that leads to gum disease and tooth decay to attach to teeth. It turns out that removing plaque and tartar during the ultrasonic scaling part of your hygiene visit is really what helps keep bacteria from adhering (plus your daily home oral hygiene routine, of course). While polishing certainly smooths out your teeth, it hasn’t been shown to make a huge difference in preventing gum disease or tooth decay. In fact, some studies have shown that polishing can even temporarily weaken your tooth enamel, making your teeth slightly more vulnerable until the outer layer of enamel grows back.
Many dental professionals now consider polishing to be primarily a cosmetic procedure. That’s why some dentists and hygienists only do selective polishing, in which they only choose certain teeth to polish, such as those with superficial stains that didn’t get removed by the ultrasonic cleaning or hand tools. So while polishing is certainly nice to get that perfectly smooth feeling after your appointment, don’t be alarmed if your hygienist doesn’t polish all of your teeth. Polishing is not as important to preventing oral problems as the ultrasonic cleaning and manual removal of plaque and tartar and tooth-strengthening fluoride treatments.
If you have any questions about the dental cleaning process, always feel free to ask us! We look forward to seeing you at your next appointment.
Many people think of braces as a right of passage that we subject pre-teens & teens to in the midst of their most awkward years just to ensure they have a nice straight smile by the time they reach adulthood. But the truth is that braces can benefit people of all ages & not all of the reasons to get braces are aesthetic.
While most of us think of getting braces in order to have straight teeth, braces have a purpose beyond cosmetics. Braces can be used to treat misaligned bites (the technical term is malocclusion), which left untreated can contribute to difficulty chewing, jaw pain, & uneven wear on your teeth. Once your braces treatment is finished, you’ll get the benefit of a beautiful smile that is also functional.
In addition to this, braces have other benefits for your oral health: straight, properly spaced teeth are also easier to clean. When you teeth are properly aligned there are fewer places where your toothbrush can’t reach that might accumulate bacteria & plaque that could lead to tooth decay. The same goes for properly spaced teeth: it is much easier to floss teeth that are not too crowded.
Another side benefit of braces treatment is an improvement to your facial aesthetics. If the purpose of your braces is to fix an underbite, overbite or otherwise misaligned bite, the result may also result in a more proportional & attractive relationship between your jaw & the rest of your face. It should be noted that more severe jaw alignment problems cannot be fixed by braces alone & may also require jaw surgery. While facial aesthetics alone are not necessarily a reason to get braces, improvements in this area are often seen once treatment is finished.
Your options for orthodontic treatment may vary when it comes to braces that are for primarily for cosmetic versus structural purposes. Many of the clear or quick options, such as clear aligners, may not be able to fix more complex orthodontic problems the way that traditional braces can. But while traditional braces may not be as attractive or fast as other braces or aligners, you will still end up with a beautiful, straight smile at the end of your treatment. No two sets of teeth are quite the same, so start a discussion with your doctor or orthodontist about which braces options might be right for you.
Bad breath can be a notoriously sneaky and therefore embarrassing issue. You might not even know you have bad breath until your loved ones are ducking away when you go in for a kiss! Here a few tips on how to prevent bad breath, so you can go out into the world with the confidence that comes from fresh breath.
It seems like the more delicious and flavorful the cuisine, the stinkier it makes your breath! Garlic and onions are some of the worst, but there are other culprits too, such as coffee. Unfortunately, brushing your teeth is often not enough to get rid of these odors. The stinky compounds in these foods are absorbed into your bloodstream, causing your to exhale odor from your lungs, not just your mouth. The only way to get rid of garlic breath is to avoid eating garlic.
Everyone knows you should brush your teeth. Most people know that brushing your teeth also includes brushing your gumline. Not everyone knows that you should be brushing your tongue too. The tongue’s bumpy surface is a great place for odor-causing bacteria to hide, so adding brushing your tongue (or scraping it with a tongue scraper) is a great way to improve both your breath. That same bacteria, if left on your tongue, can get back on your clean teeth and potentially cause tooth decay.
The saliva in your mouth is one of your body’s best self-cleaning mechanisms. Saliva helps wash away bacteria and debris in your mouth that could cause tooth decay if allowed to stick around. That same bacteria can also cause bad breath. By keeping your mouth moist, you can prevent decay and keep your breath fresh. The best way to do this is by staying hydrated by drinking lots of water. However, sometimes dry mouth is chronic and can be a side-effect of certain medications. If you find that you have dry mouth despite staying hydrated, you may want to talk to your doctor about your medications and see if there is a way to switch to one that doesn’t have this side effect. You can also talk to the dentist about over-the-counter and prescription solutions for dry mouth, such as special rinses.
