5 Common Habits That Can Wreck Your Teeth

The teeth is one of the most important part of the human body. When there is pain emanating from the teeth, it reflects through the entire body system. There are so many teeth conditions that affect people, however it would interest you to know that as Rome was not built in a day, so also most teeth problems are not birthed in a day. They are results of accumulated bad habits. I would outline a few of them below. Most of them seem perfectly normal, but they are detrimental to the health of the teeth overtime.

• Taking coffee: Coffee is dark in color and it contains acids that can over time lead to coloration of the teeth, maybe darkening due to its color or yellowing due to the acidity of coffee. There is good news though, teeth discoloration can easily be resolved through a process known as whitening. Tobacco products such as cigarettes too can lead to teeth discoloration and other severe mouth problems like gum disease, cancer of the mouth. It is not advisable to smoke, it has a lot of negative health implications.

• Consumption of wine: I have heard a lot of people say red wine is good for your stomach’s health. However, It may interest you to know that the acids present in red wine has the capacity to eat at the tooth enamel, creating spots that expose the teeth to staining. There also pigments in red wine that makes the color stick to the teeth. White wine may not very well be your escape route in this case, because the acids present still affect the enamel and weaken it such that the teeth is exposed to staining from other colored beverages. Again, there is good news to reduce the effect of this habit: Rinsing your mouth vigorously with water after drinking wine.

• Taking excessive amounts of sweets, chocolates and candies: Excessive consumption of sweets especially gummy candies can lead to tooth decay, as small particle of these sweets remain in your mouth even when you are done and because they are sweet, they attract some bacteria and other microorganisms, these organisms work on these particles continuously and can lead to teeth decay, it can also lead to weakening of the teeth and bad breath. The remedy to this is ensuring your brush your teeth thoroughly after taking sweets especially before going to bed.

• Using your teeth as an opener/scissors: As a growing child in Lagos, one common practice among kids especially at parties and get-togethers was using your teeth as a bottle-opener. This is very harmful as it can lead to cutting, breaking or cringing of the the teeth. Some other people especially kids just use their teeth as scissors, opening biscuit packs, cutting packs open, etcetera. This is an unhealthy habit, and it can lead to unnecessary dental trips that could easily have been avoided.
• Sports drink/Fruit juice: Yes, I know how refreshing it is to take in chilled drink or juice but it can do damage to the teeth if not watched properly. The fruit juice and sports drink contains a lot of components that are healthy but they are also mostly sweet and contain a lot of sugar which can lead to undue exposure of the enamel and tooth decay.