People who brush their teeth daily, floss regularly, and go to the dentist for semi-annual checkups are responsible when it comes to oral hygiene, but that doesn’t mean they don’t do other things that could be hurting their teeth. In fact, there are many things people do that can damage teeth, including eating the wrong foods, grinding teeth from stress, or even simply brushing the wrong way.
So if something as simple as brushing can actually damage your teeth, what else might you be doing that can be detrimental to your oral health? Here are seven surprising ways you may be hurting your teeth, and tips to stop.
7 Surprising Ways You May Be Hurting Your Teeth
1. Brushing Immediately After Eating
There are many misconceptions about brushing that can actually harm your teeth, and this is one of them. Although it’s important to brush regularly to remove plaque and food particles, the timing of when you brush is important too. If you brush too soon after eating or drinking, you risk weakening the enamel on your teeth; if you’ve consumed acidic foods or drinks, those acids will still be on your teeth immediately after eating, and if you brush right away, you could actually scrub the acids further into your enamel.
It’s better to rinse your whole mouth thoroughly with water after eating or drinking, and then wait 40 minutes before brushing to allow the saliva in your mouth to neutralize those harmful acids.
2. Brushing Too Hard Or Too Often
Brushing your teeth is obviously part of an excellent oral hygiene routine. However, certain ways of brushing can actually do more harm than good to your teeth. It may be surprising to learn that when it comes to brushing your teeth, too much of a good thing can cause damage. Overbrushing can lead to a condition called dental abrasion, which can result in receding gums and sensitive teeth.
Similarly, brushing too vigorously or with a hard-bristled toothbrush may seem like a great way to get rid of plaque and food particles, but it actually has the opposite effect: not only will brushing too hard NOT remove hardened plaque and tartar (which can only be removed by professional dental cleanings), but you will also damage your enamel and wear away your gums, leaving your teeth super sensitive when the gums start to pull away from the tooth roots.
Here are some toothbrushing tips for proper technique that will protect your teeth from damage:
- Brush your teeth once in the morning and right before bed
- Brush for two minutes, or until you’ve cleaned each side of every tooth
- Use a soft-bristled toothbrush
- Brush gently in small circles instead of scrubbing hard from side to side
3. Using Your Teeth For Things Other Than Eating
Teeth are amazing parts of your anatomy: they’re strong, durable, and reliable, and they can even help you out in a pinch when you need to open a bottle without an opener, rip off a tag, tear open a package, bite off nails, or chew through something when you don’t have a knife. Some people use their teeth like a Swiss Army knife, but this can cause severe damage. Although your teeth may put up with this once or twice, you risk breaking, chipping, and wearing down your enamel if you keep up with these bad habits.
4. Not Dealing Properly With Stress
You may not think there’s a link between stress and oral health, but the truth is that stress often leads to something called bruxism, which is a subconscious grinding or clenching of the teeth that can happen during the day or when you’re asleep. If this goes undiagnosed, you risk seriously hurting your teeth by chipping or breaking them. You can also end up with mouth and jaw pain, headaches, and other chronic problems.
If you do have stress-induced bruxism, you can save your teeth by getting fitted for a nightguard and by practicing stress-relief techniques that will help alleviate your subconscious grinding.
5. Chewing Ice And Overly Hard Foods
Just as teeth aren’t designed to remove bottle caps or open hard plastic packages, they are also not equipped to crush ice or chew other extremely hard foods, such as hard candy, certain nuts, fruit pits, sunflower seeds (with the shells), and popsicles. Eating foods like this regularly can cause undetected micro-fractures in your enamel, to the point where the next time you bite into an ice cube or something hard, you may just crack or break your teeth altogether, causing severe (and expensive) damage.
Just don’t do it!
6. Eating Sugary And Acidic Foods
Sugar and acid are very dangerous for your teeth. While sugar feeds the bacteria that can cause cavities and tooth decay, acids will eat away at the enamel. Acidic foods not only damage teeth by weakening enamel, but they can also make your teeth more prone to staining. Here are some of the biggest culprits for sugary and acidic foods:
- Red wine
- White wine
- Gummy candies
- Hard candy
- Pop
- Energy and sports drinks
If you do consume a lot of these foods or beverages regularly, rinse your mouth with water afterward to remove excess acid or sugar, and then brush your teeth after 40 minutes. You can also mitigate damage by drinking sugary or acidic drinks like coffee in one sitting, rather than sipping constantly throughout the day.
7. Rinsing After Brushing
Everybody knows that when you’re done brushing your teeth, you rinse your mouth with water and spit out the excess toothpaste, right? Except that’s not actually how you’re supposed to brush your teeth!
You should be using a toothpaste brand that contains fluoride, however, when you rinse your mouth with water after brushing, you rinse away the excess fluoride as well, and this reduces its ability to protect your teeth. Instead, spit out excess toothpaste when you’re done brushing — without rinsing with water (or use a minimal amount of water if necessary). You also shouldn’t rinse with mouthwash after brushing your teeth, as this will similarly wash away the excess fluoride that could be continuing to protect your enamel.
Good Oral Habits = Beautiful Smiles
Taking good care of your teeth isn’t always as simple as brushing and flossing regularly because there are many other things you might be doing unintentionally that could be hurting your oral health. Brushing too hard and too often is a common mistake, but so is eating ice and hard foods, and using your teeth as tools. There are also other less obvious ways you could be causing damage, like rinsing too soon after brushing or eating the wrong foods, and even unconscious things like grinding your teeth because of stress.
The good news is, all of these harmful habits can be replaced with good ones with a little perseverance and mindfulness. Your smile will thank you!
Keep your teeth healthy, and book a checkup today!