Dental Implants Specialists In New Jersey Talk About The Habits That Ruin Your Teeth, PART 4

This four-part article series covers the many habits - some innocent, some not-so innocent - that could be destroying your teeth and oral health, leading to the need for dental implants.

Welcome back to our four-part article series in which dental implants specialists in New Jersey explain the top habits, behaviors and addictions that could be wrecking the health of your pearly whites. In our previous article post, the third installment of the series, we discussed the dangers of teeth grinding or “Bruxism” and how sticky, gummy candies can lead to a higher incidence of tooth decay and cavities. In this final article, we shall address some of the other habits and indulgences you should avoid to keep your teeth in excellent lifelong condition.

Teeth-Wrecking Habit # 8: Sugar-Pumped Thirst Quenchers

There’s nothing like an ice-cold soda on a hot day, but busting your thirst with soda, fruit juice and energy drinks is terrible for your teeth! These should be seen as treats and not as the standard of thirst quenching. Not only are they packed with sugar, which encourages bacterial activity in your mouth; they’re also very acidic and this softens and erodes away dental enamel. If you’re thirsty, your first option should be to reach for good old H2O!

Teeth-Wrecking Habit # 9: Not Flossing

Flossing is, without a doubt, a chore... but it is an absolute necessity for keeping your teeth clean. An oral hygiene routine without flossing is like taking a shower without scrubbing the nooks and crannies (i.e. your armpits): you simply aren’t cleaning effectively! You should floss your teeth every day, preferably before you go to bed at night or else you are leaving all that food debris and plaque trapped between your teeth. In the long term, you’re leaving yourself at a higher risk of tooth decay and gum disease, not to mention bad breath!

Teeth-Wrecking Habit # 10: Using Your Teeth as Tools

Similar to chewing ice (discussed in Part 1 of this series), your teeth were not designed to be used as tools for tearing packaging, forcing open containers and other related activities. Your dental enamel - when pitted against anything harder than food - can lose and the consequences (cracks, chips, fractures) definitely aren’t worth getting that stubborn Tupperware open, even if there is chocolate inside.

Teeth-Wrecking Habit # 11: Excessive Alcohol Drinking

Alcohol is not the best hydrocarbon to put in your body and as fun as a couple of glasses of wine can end up being, you do need to appreciate the damage it or any other alcoholic beverage can do to your teeth, especially if indulged in regularly. Alcohol causes “dry mouth”, which encourages bacteria to flourish (saliva is your mouth’s natural defense against bacteria). Alcoholic beverages also tend to be high in sugar and acid, which we’ve established are not good for the health of your teeth and gums. Then there are the indirect links alcohol shares with poor oral health... those who drink heavily seldom take the time to brush carefully and floss before they go to bed at night. You also tend to lean towards starchier, fattier foods and other bad habits, such as smoking.

If you find that asking you to give up that dinner-time glass of wine is simply too much to do, you certainly can restrict how much booze you drink and how frequently you drink it. Also take proper care of your teeth, avoid social smoking and keep your dinner choices healthy. No matter how tired and, er, “impaired” your judgment is when you get home... brush and floss your teeth! Or you may find yourself needing new teeth at some imminent stage in your life.

New Teeth Specialists in Stamford Talk About the Habits that Ruin Your Teeth, PART 3

This four-part article series covers the many habits - some innocent, some not-so innocent - that could be destroying your teeth and oral health, leading to the need for dental implants.

Welcome back to our four-part article series in which specialists of New Teeth in Stamford explain the top habits and behaviors that could be wrecking the health of your pearly whites. In our previous article post, the second of the series, we discussed the perils of bedtime bottles for babies, lip and tongue piercings for adults and of course the most notorious of bad dental habits: tobacco-use. There’s still plenty more habits and behaviors to discuss, so let’s get to it!

Teeth-Wrecking Habit # 6: Teeth Grinding

Chasing deadlines, enduring a 14-hour day and competing with that new, prettier intern for the attention of your boss can send stress to stratospheric heights. While the exact cause of teeth grinding is not exactly known, most dental healthcare specialists believe there to be a strong connection with stress. The trouble with this condition - also known as “bruxism” - is that you tend to be totally unaware of what you’re doing when you’re doing it. Many people also grind their teeth at night.

“Bruxism can totally erode away one’s dental enamel,” explain new teeth specialists in Stamford. “This has a terrible impact upon dental health and can require some extensive restoration of the tooth crowns. In some advanced cases of damage and internal decay, some teeth may require root canal procedures, while others need replacing altogether!”

There is no easy treatment for teeth grinding, but you can help prevent the damage it does. Go to your dentist to have a mouth guard fitted and wear it to bed at night when you’re most likely to grind your teeth without knowing it. Also try to incorporate some stress-busting techniques into your lifestyle, whether it’s a Thursday night yoga class or regular walks on the beach. Alternatively, you could take up kickboxing and punch the living daylights out of a bag.

Teeth-Wrecking Habit # 7: Sticky, Gummy Candy

So you have a sweet tooth: welcome to the entire human race! However, your choice in sweet indulgence may just be the difference between healthy and decayed teeth! Sticky toffees, gummy candies and caramels are absolutely terrible for your teeth. They have a habit of getting stuck in the tiny cusps, cracks and crevasses in and between your teeth, providing bacteria with an absolute feast for hours! Plaque levels can soar after such an indulgence and if you don’t brush your teeth soon, this plaque (which is actually bacteria) can cause the development of cavities and tooth decay.

Surprisingly enough, chocolate is a far safer sweet indulgence! Its molecules are quite fatty, which means that they get washed away by saliva far easier and don’t tend to stick to the surface of your teeth. Whatever your weakness is, however, always maintain a high standard of oral hygiene to minimize your risk of tooth decay and tooth loss, or you may just find yourself booking an appointment with the Stamford dental implants specialist!

Stay Tuned for Part 4

If you want to avoid needing Stamford dental implants later on in life, stay tuned for the fourth and final installment of this article series to find out more of the bad habits, addictions and behaviors you should be avoiding or seeking professional treatment for!

New Teeth Specialists in NJ talk About the Habits that Ruin Your Teeth, PART 2

This four-part article series covers the many habits - some innocent, some not-so innocent - that could be destroying your teeth and oral health, leading to the need for dental implants.

Welcome back to our four-part article series in which New Teeth in NJ specialists explain the top habits and behaviors that could be wrecking the health of your teeth and gums. In our previous article post, the first of the series, chewing ice and playing sports without a mouth guard were discussed as the first two harmful habits. We’ve got many more to get through - some you may already be aware of but others that may come as a surprise - so let’s get straight back into it!

Teeth-Wrecking Habit # 3: Giving Baby a Bedtime Bottle

Handing your tiny tot a bottle as they go to bed may help them fall asleep, but it could also lead to early tooth decay! Whether it’s formula or juice, both contain sugar and bacteria love sugar. Giving your child a bottle to suck overnight leaves their developing teeth and gums in a veritable sugar bath, which is oral bacteria’s idea of paradise. Feed your baby before you put him or her to bed and be sure to gently clean their mouths afterwards. If they want something to suck on, give them water or a pacifier.

‘The development of a child’s adult teeth can be severely impacted by the health of their predecessors, the baby milk teeth,” explain New Teeth or dental implant specialists. “As such, it’s imperative that parents take the correct actions in looking after their children’s pearly whites. Also note that you should throw the pacifier in the trash bin after age 1. Constant sucking on these kinds of appliances can actually change the shape of the mouth and can result in severe orthodontic problems.”

Teeth-Wrecking Habit # 4: Lip and Tongue Piercings

Feeling rebellious? Try a tattoo... lip and tongue piercings can do serious damage to your dental enamel! Accidentally biting down on the stainless steel bar or the constant tapping of the piercing against the back of your teeth as you talk can cause chipping and cracks. In the case of lip piercings, the metal disk on the inside of the lip can rub against the gums causing irritation, inflammation and even infection. The gums can become so damaged that they actually recede from the crowns of the teeth, revealing the darker root underneath (see image above).

Tongue piercings can also make it difficult for you to clean your tongue properly. This is not even to mention the risk of infection such invasive activities cause. Again, if you’re feeling rebellious, do something really brave like get a tattoo or dye your hair shocking pink, instead. Leave your mouth alone!

Teeth-Wrecking Habit # 5: Tobacco-Use

Perhaps the least surprising of all the bad habits on this list are smoking and tobacco-use. We won’t bore you with the details, but in short, tobacco-use:

• Stains the teeth,
• Causes dry mouth,
• Causes bad breath: “smoker’s halitosis”,
• Irritates and inflames (burns) the soft tissues in the mouth,
• Slows the natural healing process,
• Renders various procedures less likely to succeed, such as dental implants,
• Increases your risk of developing oral cancer,
• Causes gum infection and disease.

Stay Tuned for Part 3

If you like your current pearly whites and want to avoid needing new teeth later on in life, stay tuned for the third installment of this four-part article series to find out more of the bad habits, behaviors and addictions you should be avoiding!

Dental Implants Specialists In Rutherford Talk About The Habits That Ruin Your Teeth, PART 1

This four-part article series covers the many habits - some innocent, some not-so innocent - that could be destroying your teeth and oral health, leading to the need for dental implants.

Sharks have multiple sets of teeth. In fact, they tend to grow a fresh set of teeth every two weeks or so to replace those ripped out during feeding frenzies. Rodents have incisors that just keep growing and growing, which is why - in part - beavers gnaw incessantly on the boles of trees: to prevent their teeth from getting too long. Elephants have a set of molars that steadily march towards the front of their mouth during the course of their lifetime. At age 40, a set of larger brand new molars emerge to replace those that have been ground down by day-long munching.

But, humans have only two sets of teeth. The first start to emerge soon after we are born and are then replaced with adult teeth in our late childhood.

In other words, by the time we are 12, we have the set of teeth that is meant to last us for the rest of our lives. There are no second chances for us. Unlike sharks, we won’t sprout new teeth to replace those lost through bad oral hygiene or an accident. Our teeth, if chipped, won’t keep growing and at age 40 we’re more likely to lose our molars than grow a fresh set like elephants! This is why it’s so important that we look after our pearly whites from as early an age as possible.

In this four-part article series, dental implants specialists in Rutherford - the dental healthcare professionals responsible for replacing missing teeth – will be taking us through their top list of habits and behaviors that are ruining the health of your teeth and gums and could possibly lead to early tooth loss. Some of these habits you may be aware of already, such as smoking, but others will come as a surprise! So, without further ado, let’s get started...

Teeth-Wrecking Habit # 1: Chewing Ice

On a hot day, it can be wonderful to fill a cup with ice and soda and sit there chewing on the lumps and shards of ice. While ice is sugar-free and, in its liquid state, is perfectly good for you, your teeth were not made to bite into it! In a battle between enamel and ice, enamel is likely to win, but that doesn’t mean it will win every time and the result could be fractures, cracking and chipping. Also, if you make it a habit you could end up irritating the soft tissues inside your teeth, or even grind the enamel down to the dentine, leaving your pearly whites far more vulnerable to cavities and decay.

“If you’re a compulsive chewer, buy yourself some sugar-free gum,” suggests a specialist of dental implants in Rutherford. “Chewing ice is terrible for the enamel of your teeth and if you don’t address it, I will expect to see you in my office before long.”

Teeth-Wrecking Habit # 2: Playing Sports without a Mouth Guard

Think twice before getting on the field or ring without a mouth guard! It just takes one second for something to go horribly wrong and for teeth to go flying. You wouldn’t stand in front of the ice hockey goal without the correct protection - you could literally get yourself killed should the puck fly at your face at just the right angle - so why would you face the football player without a helmet and mouth guard? In fact, most sports (other than badminton… but who plays badminton?) come with a risk of facial trauma.

“Make sure you invest in a good mouth guard and wear it,” advises the dental implants specialist in Rutherford. “If your friends laugh at you, tell them to Google mouth sports injuries… that’ll zip their lips.”

Stay Tuned for Part 2

If you like your current pearly whites and want to avoid needing new teeth later on in life, stay tuned for the second installment of this four-part article series to find out more of the bad habits and behaviors you should be avoiding!