It is a good habit to visit your dentist regularly. These visits however must not be a painful or difficult one. To help you avoid visiting a dentist on a bad foot, here are some bad oral hygiene habits you need to break now.
1. Irregular Flossing & Brushing
Irregular flossing and brushing can lead to many dental issues. If you skip regular hygiene routines you can expect some backlash from your mouth. You are most likely to experience bad breath, bleeding, swollen gums, and cavities. If you get a cavity and don’t treat it, they can damage the nervous system of the tooth and cause you a lot of pain . You may even require root canals or extractions if the cavity gets large enough.
So make sure to always brush twice a day and floss at least once a day to maintain a healthy mouth.
2. Smoking
Smoking is a bad habit that can lead to many oral health problems. Smoking not only affects your teeth and gums but it can also lead to life-threatening mouth conditions such as oral cancer.
So whether you’ve been a smoker for 6 months or 5 years, quitting will certainly decrease the risk of developing oral cancer, heart disease, lung cancer, and other serious conditions. The use of tobacco is also a common reason for stained and yellow teeth.
3. Brushing Too Aggressively
Brushing your teeth too aggressively can cause damage to your teeth and gums. If you are brushing too hard, you can actually cause your gums to recede and your tooth structure to wear down. If your toothbrush bristles are splayed and fan out over time, that is a sign you are brushing too hard.
4. Biting or chewing on objects
If it isn’t food or drink, chances are, it doesn’t belong in your mouth. Chewing on clothing, pens, pencils and other foreign objects can cause chips, fractures and damage to your tooth enamel and existing dental restorations. This can also cause trauma or injury to your teeth and gums.
5. Drinking sugary acidic drinks
Drinking sugary drinks is one of the leading causes of tooth decay. Your mouth is naturally non acidic. If you introduce and constantly attack your teeth with sugars and acids from sugary acidic drinks, your mouth’s pH level will become more acidic. When you mouth is more acidic, cavity causing bacteria will attack the teeth causing tooth decay. Acidic drinks can not only cause tooth decay but can cause tooth erosion as well.
