Swiss Army Teeth: 6 Ways You Treat Your Teeth Like Tools and Why You Need to Stop
Posted on: 25 October 2016
It can be tempting to treat your teeth like Swiss Army Knives, especially when you are young and bold. As a child, you make short work of sweet wrappers, and can easily crush even the biggest gobstoppers into dust with a victorious grin. Later, with most or even all your teeth intact, gobstoppers evolve into pencils, beer bottle caps and even finger nails. And why not? Your teeth are composed of the hardest substance in the human body: enamel.
However, even though enamel is harder than steel and your teeth are naturally resistant to cracking, time will eventually tell and you will find yourself running into all kinds of dental emergencies.
For the sake of your teeth, put an end to the following bad habits.
1. Bad Habits of the Workman
Holding nails, Pins and Other Objects
Imagine for a moment a set of stone steps, solid, dependable and seemingly everlasting. Now imagine what happens when thousands of people walk up and down those steps over the years. A dent forms. That's exactly what happens when you use your teeth to hold work items each and every day. If you must do this, try wearing a mouth guard instead. Your teeth will be spared any damage.
Gnawing on Pencils
When planning or drawing out a blueprint, remember not to chew the pencil. Consistent chewing or pressing down with the teeth on something other than food will wear your teeth down, and even lead to a loss of tooth structure.
2. Bad Habits of the Party Animal
Tearing Holes in Cans of Beer
It does look cool, but you're leaving yourself open to tooth fractures and tooth displacement, not to mention the harmful bacteria that might be lurking on the can's surface.
Opening Bottles of Beer
There's always one person at a party who can impress with their amazing ability to remove beer bottle caps with their teeth. However, wear and tear sets in over time. Those bottle caps are made of aluminum and sometimes steel. Unless you are the infamous Jaws character from the earlier James Bond films, your teeth should be nowhere near bottle caps. One crack is all it takes and you'll be calling an emergency dentist with severe toothache due to trauma to the soft pulp of your tooth.
3. Bad Habits of the Stressed or Nervous
Biting Nails
Got exams or an interview coming up? Don't take it out on your nails. Not only does nail biting cause tooth loss and tooth fractures, it has also been proven to lead to a greater prevalence of dangerous bacteria in your mouth.
Chewing on Toothpicks
The same goes for chewing on items such as toothpicks. If you're nervous, replace nails and toothpicks with gum. Chewing sugarless gum will lower your stress levels and protect your teeth from decay.
Even if you are guilty of one or even all of these bad habits, it's never too late to stop. Use your teeth for what they were designed by nature for, chewing and grinding food, and you'll save yourself a lot of pain and expense in the long run.
Share