An Orange County Oral Surgeon is always there when you need restorative work done. However, most of these professionals would like to see you avoid wrecking your teeth unnecessarily.
That’s why they put together some bad habits you need to break.
Chewing on Ice
Lots of people think because there’s no additives or preservatives and no sugar added, ice is harmless to your teeth. The truth is quite different. Chewing on those hard cubes can cause dental fixtures to come loose. You might even crack a tooth by accident.
Playing Contact Sports Without a Mouthguard
If you ask most hockey players, they wouldn’t dream of going on the ice without their stick and gloves. Our Orange County oral surgeon experts think there’s another important piece of equipment they all need in any contact sport and that’s a mouthguard. Without one of these in place, you can lose a few teeth or at the very least chip a few when the action gets going.
Bottles at Bedtime
Parents should always start protecting their children’s teeth at a very early age. Not every new Mom and Dad knows that giving your baby a bottle of formula or even juice and milk can start the path to tooth decay.
Keeping your child away from large amounts of sugar is a good practice to start at an early age.
Piercing Your Tongue
This is one of those situations where you need to sacrifice what you think is cool for what’s best for your teeth. If you stop and think about it for a moment, you’ll realize quickly that biting down on a metal stud can quite easily crack a tooth.
Not only that, having your tongue pierced opens up your mouth to all kinds of different infection.
Bruxism
If you’re in the habit of grinding your teeth, you can wear them down over time. Bruxism is usually caused by stress. You can also grind your teeth at night when you sleep so a mouthguard is a handy way to keep any damage down.
Some Cough Medicines
The cough drops that you get from your local pharmacy are full of sugar. This sugar reacts quickly with the plaque that’s already on your teeth. Left alone for a long period of time, it’s the beginning of cavities.
Getting together with your Orange County oral surgeon to talk about heading off any dental problems is a good idea.