4 Ways You're Damaging Your Teeth Without Realizing It

Your teeth are fickle beasts. They require daily upkeep in order to keep them healthy. Although you most likely brush and floss your teeth to care for them, did you know that there are probably plenty of things that you do on a daily basis that serve to damage your teeth? Throughout the course of this brief article, you'll learn about 4 common things people do that damage their teeth without even realizing it. Do any of these apply to you?

Eating Dried Fruit

You're probably a busy person who is on the go constantly. Despite this, you may try to eat as healthily as possible. Perhaps you're in your office or walking from class to class, and you need a snack that's going to give you a bit of brain fuel, but is inconspicuous and easy to clean up. Voila! Dried fruit. It's convenient, it's easy, and hey: it's fruit. It has to be good for you, right? Wrong. Dried fruit is loaded with synthetic sugars that are not only not good for your overall health, but can be in the service of seriously damaging your teeth. Dried fruits can easily gnaw away at the enamel of your teeth and send you into the dangerous territory of cavity city.

Chewing On Pens and Pencils

It's not secret that a day in class or at the office can be boring, and everyone tends to pick up bad habits due to boredom. One of the bad habits that many office workers and students tend to pick up is chewing on their pen or pencil. Although it might seem like an innocuous way to pass the time, chewing on your pen or pencil can be horrible for your teeth. Your teeth were not designed to chew on hard objects and they certainly weren't designed to chew on inedible objects such as wood. Chewing on pens and pencils can cause your teeth to shift and can irritate your gums. If you must chew on something, it is recommended that you switch to chewing gum.

Drinking Sugar Free Fizzy Drinks

You might think that you're getting way with something by drinking a drink that is sugar free. After all, it's sugar that is the leading contributor to enamel decay and the cause of cavities. Having said that, there are many other things that can lead to both of these phenomena. Drinking a fizzy drink without sugar is about on par with drinking one with sugar. The fizzy formula actually serves break down your teeth's enamel. The high acidity of carbonated beverages weakens your teeth, overall.

Dehydration

Dehydration is, simply put, one of the worst states that your body can be in. It is highly recommended that your body stay hydrated at all times, for a variety of reasons. One of those reasons is that staying hydrated increases the health of your teeth, while being dehydrated works in the service of harming your oral hygiene. When you are hydrated, this allows your mouth to form saliva, the natural lubricant that both breaks down foods that you are chewing and also works as a natural form of protection from outside forces for your teeth. Staying hydrated is a good practice for your body, in general.

Just because you're doing things that you know are taking care of your teeth, like visiting a dentist like Durham Dental regularly and brushing and flossing your teeth every day, doesn't mean that you're doing things that you don't know are harming your teeth. Hopefully, this article has served to better inform you of some of these perils of which you may have been unaware.


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