These small habits may seem innocent – but continuing with these bad teeth cleaning habits can cause a real problem for your teeth. Read on and make sure you’re not doing any of these!
Mouthwash
Mouthwash is excellent if you’re looking to freshen your breath – when used in conjunction with brushing twice and flossing each day.
It isn’t however, a replacement for toothbrushes or floss – only really scratching the surface of the teeth, leaving plaque and bacteria behind to promote tooth decay and gum disease.
Mouthwash by itself is not enough!
Teeth cleaning – brushing too hard
Brushing twice a day is good, right? Not if your technique is incorrect.
We often see people who scrub at their gums far too hard – this causes enamel and gums to wear away.
The correct method is to hold your brush at a 45 degree angle to your gums and use very light inwards pressure whilst moving the brush in circular motions (not like you’re scrubbing a dish!)
Using a too-tough toothbrush.
You should be using a soft or extra-soft toothbrush – anything harder can cause needless damage.
If you can make a soft toothbrush last three months – it shows you have good brushing technique! If your soft toothbrush isn’t lasting three months and goes ‘furry’, try to be more gentle when brushing and to use a circular action. If you’re still getting issues please let one of our friendly dentists know and we’ll be able to help.
Chewing ice
Dr. Sang has actually cracked a perfectly good, never before filled, molar tooth by chewing on ice.
Our brain has a protective reflex which tells us to stop biting down – we can easily damage our own teeth by being overzealous with the human body’s very strong jaw muscles.
If you’re chewing on ice the protective reflex can stop working, leaving teeth crashing against each other much harder than they should – this causes painful and expensive microfractures and cracks.
Citrus
Lemon juice in water seems like a healthy choice, right? Unfortunately, it’s actually quite damaging to your teeth. The citric acid in the lemon will corrode teeth and literally dissolves the enamel layer. It’s not going to happen on your first glass but please don’t drink lemon water 3 times a day every day.
You also need to be careful with orange slices – they’re delicious and healthy but leaving an ‘orange slice mouthguard’ in is terrible for your teeth. Please be very careful with citrus and always rinse your mouth out afterwards.