Good Dental Habits Gone Bad
While dental care was pretty low in most people’s priorities even as little as thirty years ago, it’s risen up the ranks in recent years to be one of the most well-observed health considerations of all.
Nowadays, we all understand the importance of daily dental hygiene and six-monthly check-ups with a dentist. The trouble is that, as many people find out the hard way, ‘good’ dental habits can often do damage in ways that we don’t foresee.
Regular appointments with a professional are your best way to offset/avoid these surprisingly negative influences. But, to make sure you don’t go down a path that turns your good intentions into another filling, keep reading to find out what these bad habits in disguise are.
Brushing too hard
According to the Wall Street Journal, as many as 10-20% of the population brush their teeth too hard. More worryingly, this negative habit can cause gum recession and even bleeding gums. In other words, you can quite literally brush your gum lines into oblivion. This is terrible news, as it exposes the roots of your teeth and, unchecked, can lead to the need for extensive work, much as you’d receive if you weren’t brushing at all.
The solution is tenfold and involves finding a brush with softer bristles and, more importantly, working on your brush strokes. Rather than scrubbing (as people seem to do in movies,) you want to focus on small circular motion, specifically where the tooth meets your gum.
Furious flossing
Fossing has also come under fire of late, with many recent studies revealing that there’s no real evidence it has any beneficial impact. In fact, mistakes like flossing too hard, fast, or often can lead to the same damage mentioned above, if not worse.
Ultimately, flossing can be beneficial for getting food from hard-to-reach places, but you should floss gently, no more than once a day, to avoid irritating your gums.
‘Healthy snacks’ that do more damage than good
We all know that snacking on sweets is bad news. After all, sugar is a leading cause of plaque and, ultimately, holes. But, what many of us don’t realise when we reach for healthy snacks is that these can often be just as bad if not worse than their obviously unhealthy counterparts. Specifically, highly acidic fruit is the worst thing you can expose your teeth to.
That acid is so bad for wearing away tooth enamel that dentists recommend rinsing with water straight after and waiting at least thirty minutes before brushing so that enamel has time to resettle.
A final word
It can be difficult to get your dental routine just right, and taking these go-tos off the table can make it seem even trickier. In reality, though, a simplified brushing routine that puts gentle, focused strokes at the forefront is the best way to keep your teeth healthy. This, paired with flossing in moderation and regular dental visits, is really all it takes to get tooth care right once and for all.