Bad habits like chewing ice, grinding your teeth, and biting your nails can chip or crack teeth. Not using a straw or brushing too hard can also wear down your teeth' enamel. Talk with your dentist about any habits you think may be harming your teeth and how to fix them.
Cavities, also called tooth decay or caries, are caused by a combination of factors, including bacteria in your mouth, frequent snacking, sipping sugary drinks and not cleaning your teeth well.
Soda, sugary food, and drinks are harmful to your teeth and sometimes more harmful than battery acid. Other causes of fast tooth decay can stem from other sources like acid reflux, stomach problems, or eating disorders such as bulimia.
The main risk factors for tooth decay are not taking care of your teeth and having too many sugary or starchy foods and drinks. Some people have a higher risk of tooth decay, including people who: Don't have enough saliva, because of medicines, certain diseases, or some cancer treatments. Don't get enough fluoride.
Poor oral habits include a wide spectrum of habits including, thumb sucking, finger sucking, blanket sucking, tongue sucking, soother/pacifier use, lip sucking, lip licking, mouth breathing, and nail biting, among others.
Brush Teeth Twice a Day. The American Dental Association recommends you brush your teeth twice a day with fluoride toothpaste. Fluoride occurs naturally and has long been recognized for its oral health benefits. In fact, many municipalities have fluoridated drinking water to help reduce cavities.
Because of the way chronic stress impairs your immune system, it can lead to chronically inflamed gums, which leads to gum disease. The damage to your gums that chronic stress causes can loosen up the foundations holding your teeth in place, damage the supporting bone, and result in tooth loss.
So, can stress or anxiety cause your teeth to shift/move? The answer is a resounding YES! If feeling stressed or anxious causes you to develop bruxism, over time the regular grinding and clenching of your teeth and the subsequent pressure on them could cause them to alter position slightly.
Your dentist can tell. During routine dental examinations and cleanings, dentists can detect oral symptoms of stress, including orofacial pain, bruxism, temporomandibular disorders (TMJ), mouth sores and gum disease.
Try non-acidic foods: Certain foods are good for your enamel. Many types of fruits and vegetables, dairy products such as milk, and foods or drinks containing fluoride – notably spinach, grapes and black tea – will be useful to naturally restore enamel.
Eat More Enamel-Strengthening Foods
As the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics suggests, dairy products are a great calcium source, but many vegetables also are calcium-rich. Soybeans in edamame and tofu, broccoli rabe, kale and other leafy greens are leading non-dairy options for adding calcium to your diet.
There are seven toxic habits that you should quit today. Stop comparing yourself to others, letting your past impact your present and future, not taking your own advice, expecting the worst, not taking chances, not sharpening your saw, and being too hard on yourself.
Celery, Carrots, and Other Crunchy Veggies
Many vegetables are good for teeth because they require a lot of chewing to clean teeth surfaces. Crunchy, firm foods that contain lots of water are great natural teeth cleaners because they stimulate the flow of saliva, which helps to scrub away food particles and bacteria.
Fluoride is a mineral that can prevent tooth decay from progressing. It can even reverse, or stop, early tooth decay.
Cheese, milk, plain yogurt, and other dairy products.
The calcium and phosphates in milk, cheese, and other dairy products, help put back minerals your teeth might have lost due to other foods. They also help rebuild tooth enamel.
With twice daily brushing, Sensodyne Repair and Protect toothpaste can actually repair sensitive teeth. Its active ingredient, Novamin, builds a repairing layer over the vulnerable areas of your teeth and protects them from pain.
As the enamel continues to erode, your teeth might turn a gray or yellowish color. If your teeth change shape, it's a good indicator that you have enamel damage. Your teeth may begin to appear rounded, develop ridges, and often the gaps between teeth will become more substantial.
Dental anxiety is fear, anxiety or stress associated with a dental setting. Being scared to visit the dentist can result in delaying or avoiding dental treatment. Things like needles, drills or the dental setting in general can trigger dental anxiety.
Oral anxiety is the stress effects on oral health. Stress or anxiety can impact your oral health; when you are stressed, your immune system is compromised, and while the cause of canker sores is not proven, there is some correlation or higher likelihood between lowered immune and those nasty painful canker sores.