Four bad habits that harm your teeth

Most of us are guilty of a least one bad habit, whether it’s smoking, procrastination or just biting your fingernails.

But did you know that some bad habits can damage your teeth? It’s true. There are some habits, like biting your fingernails, that can chip your teeth or even crack them.

In this blog post, we’ll go over some of the bad habits that can damage your pearly whites.

1. Chewing on pens and pencils

Many people like to chew on their pen or pencil while they work. Often it’s a way to get rid of stress but sometimes people do it out of boredom too.

The problem with chewing on pens and pencils is that it could potentially chip or crack your teeth. Also, if you chew on pens often, you could prematurely wear down your enamel. Not to mention the risk that the pen could break in your mouth, spilling ink all over your tongue and teeth!

So it’s best to keep pens and pencils out of your mouth. If you need to chew on something, chew on sugar-free gum instead.

2. Biting your fingernails

Another common bad habit is biting your fingernails. Lots of people do it, usually as a way to relieve stress.

But biting your fingernails is definitely not good for your teeth. For one thing, regularly biting your fingernails can shift your teeth out of place, a problem that can require braces later on. For another thing, nail-biting can even damage the enamel on your teeth.

Also, every time you put your fingers in your mouth, you risk spreading bacteria from your fingers to your mouth. The bacteria could potentially infect your gums.

So, nail-biting is definitely a habit to break – before it breaks your teeth.

3. Smoking

Smoking is definitely near the top of the list of the worst bad habits. It not only affects your general health but your dental health too.

For one thing, smoking can stain your teeth yellow, and for another thing, smoking increases your risk of gum disease and even mouth cancer.

So, if you’re a smoker, it’s definitely best to try to kick the habit, for the sake of your oral health as well as your general health.

4. Frequent snacking

Another bad habit that many of us are guilty of is snacking throughout the day. This usually means going to the fridge or the cupboard every half an hour to get a biscuit or chocolate.

The problem with snacking frequently is that it’s bad for your teeth. This is because the snacks create a constant assault on your teeth in the form of acid and sugar. This can cause cavities and other problems.

So, instead of snacking all the time, it’s best to stick to your three meals instead. And if you do feel peckish between meals, make it a healthy snack, such as carrots, nuts or celery.

Conclusion

In this blog post, we’ve discussed four bad habits can damage your teeth. If you’re guilty of any of these habits, then do try to stop doing them and your teeth will thank you!

How smoking affects your oral health

We know that it isn’t easy to stop smoking. A recent poll shows that three-fifths of people who resolve to quit smoking start again before a month has passed.

If you’ve decided to quit cigarettes and you need a bit more motivation to keep going, then read this blog post. This month, we’ll be discussing the effect of smoking on your dental health. Specifically, we’ll look at the various oral health problems that smoking can cause: stains, dry mouth, bad breath, gum disease, oral cancer and diminished taste.

Stains

Cigarettes can stain your teeth, causing them to become an unsightly yellow or brown colour. While it’s possible to remove these stains if they’re only on the surface, it’s much harder to get rid of stains that have penetrated inside the tooth. Prevention is always better than cure – so stop smoking before the stains build up!

Reduced blood flow to your gums

Smoking not only causes stains; it also reduces the blood flow to your gums. This alone can have several effects on your oral health.

Firstly, reduced blood flow means that your gums won’t be able to fight off infection and plaque as well as they should. This means you’ll have a higher risk of gum disease. Secondly, it means that your gums will heal slower than normal. And thirdly, reduced blood flow means that you might not even notice you have gum disease. This is because reduced blood flow masks one of the most obvious signs of gum disease: bleeding gums.

Bad breath

Smoking causes bad breath, also known as “smoker’s breath”. It’s often particularly bad in the morning.

Oral cancer

Oral cancer is another possible effect of smoking. In fact, most cases of oral cancer in the UK are caused by smoking. This is why it’s important to visit the dentist regularly for oral cancer checks if you’re a smoker.

Dry mouth

Another problem that smoking can cause is dry mouth. This is a condition where your mouth doesn’t make enough saliva. It can lead to tooth decay and gum disease because your mouth needs saliva to fight off bacteria.

A diminished sense of taste

As if you didn’t need any more reasons to quit cigarettes, you should know that smoking also diminishes your sense of taste and makes food less palatable.

Conclusion

Smoking can have lots of bad effects on your oral health. There’s stains, bad breath, dry mouth, and even an increased risk of oral cancer. These reasons alone should be enough to make you want to quit smoking.

We know it’s not easy to quit smoking. But we think it’s well worth the effort when you keep in mind the positive effects on your dental health. Your teeth will be healthier and you’ll ever have a nicer smile to boot.

If you’d like to speak to a professional about the effect of smoking on your oral health, please make an appointment with a dentist.

Bad breath: Causes and treaments

Whether you have it or you’re on the receiving end of it, no-one likes bad breath. Unfortunately, though, bad breath happens to many of us at some point in our lives.

If you’re a victim of bad breath then don’t despair. Read this month’s blog post to find out what causes bad breath and what you can do to treat it

Causes of bad breath

• Gum disease. One of the most common causes of bad breath is gum disease. Gum disease can happen if you don’t clean your teeth well enough and bacteria gain a foothold on your gums. When bacteria build-up, they produce the smelly odours that can cause bad breath.
• Bacterial infection. If the bad breath also comes with pain, then it might be a bacterial infection.
• Bits of food in your mouth. This might sound gross but any leftover bits of food in your mouth can cause bad breath too. When the bacteria in your mouth digest the food, it releases bad odours.
• Dry mouth. Dry mouth is a condition where your mouth doesn’t have as much saliva as it should. This makes your mouth dry and sticky. It also produces bad breath, because there is not enough saliva to fight bacteria.
• Smoking. Smoking is an obvious cause of bad breath. There’s a condition even known as “smoker’s breath” which is bad breath caused by smoking.
• Crash dieting. Crash diets – which are diets where you lose weight fast – can cause temporary bad breath.
• Medications. A few medications can cause bad breath. If you’re taking medications, read the instructions to see if bad breath is listed as a potential side effect.
• Medical conditions. There are also medical conditions that can cause bad breath. These include diabetes, tonsillitis and acid reflux.

How to cure bad breath

If you have bad breath and want to get rid of it, then follow the tips below.

• Improve your oral hygiene routine. Make sure you’re cleaning your teeth and gums to a proper standard. This means brushing your teeth and gums for two minutes a day, twice a day. You should also floss once a day to remove bits of food that may be stuck between your teeth.
• Clean your tongue. Sometimes bacteria on the tongue can lead to bad breath. The solution is to brush your tongue as well whenever you brush your teeth. And if you really want to clean your tongue effectively, try a tongue scraper.
• Use mouthwash. The regular use of an antibacterial mouthwash can help to fight bacteria and eradicate bad breath. However, don’t use mouthwash immediately after brushing because it will wash the toothpaste out of your mouth. You want some toothpaste to stay in your mouth so it keeps your teeth protected as you sleep.
• Visit your dentist. If all else fails, your dentist should be your next point of call. A dentist can have a proper look at your mouth and find out what’s causing your bad breath. Note that if you’re in any pain right now, see a dentist as soon as possible. There could be an infection causing your bad breath, which needs to be treated as soon as possible.

Six ways to take care of your teeth during quarantine

The coronavirus pandemic has affected businesses all across the UK, and dental clinics are no exception. The British Dental Association has advised dentists to close their doors for all but emergency cases. This means people cannot receive dental check-ups, braces appointments or cosmetic treatments such as teeth whitening. Only people with dental emergencies are able to get dentist appointments.

We don’t know how much longer the quarantine will go on for, but until it’s over, it’s more important than ever to look after your teeth. Any cavities you get now won’t be seen until your next dental appointment, and who knows when that will be?

So it’s important to take all the steps you can to reduce the risk of cavities. In this blog post, we will share some tips on how to look after your teeth during the quarantine.

1. Brush your teeth twice a day

Brushing your teeth twice a day is one of the most fundamental things you can do to keep them healthy. You should brush your teeth once in the morning and again just before going to bed. This will remove plaque and stop bacteria from creating cavities.

2. Floss

Floss is also part of the foundation of a good oral hygiene routine. Try to floss your teeth at least once a day. It will help to keep your teeth and gums healthy during the quarantine.

3. Drink water

Make sure to drink plenty of water during the quarantine. Not only is it good for your body, but it also neutralises acids in your mouth too, thereby protecting your teeth from acidity.

4. Avoid sugar

Sugar is a major cause of cavities. It’s what the bacteria in your mouth like to feed on. Therefore we recommend limiting the amount of sugar in your diet, especially during the quarantine.

We know it can be difficult to ward off sugar cravings, especially if you’re stuck at home, as most people are now. The contents of the biscuit tin can seem pretty tempting when you’re working from home and feeling peckish.

Try to make sure to have plenty of healthy snacks available instead, like carrot sticks, celery, hummus, fruit, crackers and bread. All these are better for your teeth than biscuits and chocolate.

5. Use an electric toothbrush

It’s been shown that electric toothbrushes are better at removing plaque than their ordinary counterparts. So we recommend getting an electric toothbrush if you don’t already have one.

6. Use mouthwash

Mouthwash is a good way to kill bacteria and remove plaque. We recommend using mouthwash once or twice a day, preferably one with fluoride in it.

However, make sure not to use mouthwash straight after brushing your teeth, because it will wash away the fluoride from the toothpaste.

Conclusion

The quarantine has affected everything, including dental clinics. We don’t know when dental clinics will open again, but until they do, make sure to pay special care to your teeth. Now’s not a good time to get a cavity!

How to look after your teeth when you have the flu

Now that the weather has turned cold, the number of cases of the flu has started to rise. Flu doesn’t just affect your overall health – it can also affect your teeth too, and make it more likely that you’ll get plaque or a cavity.

If you get the flu, then you’ll want to take plenty of rest until you get better. You’ll also want to take note of our tips on how to look after your teeth when you’re ill.

Drink plenty of water

When you get sick, people will often advise you to drink plenty of water. This is for a good reason: it keeps you hydrated and helps your body to fight the infection.

But did you also know that water is great for your teeth? That’s because water neutralises acidity in your mouth, and it also helps to wash away bits of food.

It might be tempting to drink lots of tea with lemon and honey when you’re sick. This is okay for a few days but we don’t recommend doing it all the time. Tea, for example, can stain your teeth. Lemons are very acidic, which can damage your enamel. And honey is very sticky and sugary, which can cause plaque. The best thing to drink is plain water, even when you’re ill.

Use sugar-free medicine

Lots of flu medicine contains sugar. Cough drops, for example, are mainly sugar – in fact, they have so much sugar in them that they are practically sweets. Cough syrup too is high in sugar. This isn’t good for your teeth.

Thankfully there are sugar-free alternatives nowadays that are much better for your teeth. Ask your pharmacist for sugar-free cough drops for instance.

If you vomit, don’t brush your teeth afterwards
Flu can cause a whole range of unpleasant symptoms, and one of these is vomiting.

If you do throw up, you might be tempted to brush your teeth straight afterwards to freshen your mouth. However, this isn’t a good idea. The acidity of in your mouth will have temporarily softened your teeth, and if you brush your teeth at that point, you could damage them. We recommend simply rinsing your mouth with mouthwash instead. It’s much kinder on your teeth.

You can brush your teeth, but do wait 1-2 hours after you throw up. By that point, your teeth will have re-hardened.

Be careful about who uses your toothbrush

When you have the flu, letting someone else use your toothbrush is an instant way to give them the flu as well. That’s because your toothbrush will contain little droplets of saliva, and these droplets will have the flu virus. So if you have small children, keep your toothbrush out of their reach.

Conclusion

Being ill with flu is an unpleasant experience. However, with a little bit of thought, you can reduce the impact it might have on your oral health.

What Christmas drinks have the most sugar?

As winter draws closer and temperatures fall, it’s nice to have a hot drink to warm you up. At Christmas time, there’s plenty of hot drinks to choose from. At home, you can make hot chocolate or a Christmas punch. Or if you’re out, you can nip into a cafe and buy a festive drink like an eggnog latte, a spiced cappuccino or a mint mocha.

However, it’s always good to stop and think about how what we eat and drink affects our bodies. Festive drinks, for example, are often very high in sugar. This can be bad for our teeth because sugar can lead to cavities and tooth decay.

In this month’s blog post, we’ll be looking at the amount of sugar in popular Christmas drinks. This way, you can get an idea of how these drinks might potentially affect your teeth.

Starbucks’s Eggnog Latte

Nothing says “I’m American and it’s Christmas” like eggnog. But beware, because this milk-based drink is very high in sugar. If you buy Starbucks’s version, you’ll be ingesting 33.8 of sugar, which is about the same as a can of coke.

Caffe Nero’s Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate

Caffe Nero isn’t entirely innocent either. All of their hot chocolates are high in sugar. Their worst offender is their Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate, which contains 38.9 of sugar (9.3 teaspoons). If you want to look after your teeth, ask the barista of Caffe Nero for a bottle of water instead.

Greggs’s Mint Mocha

Greggs’s is known as the place to get a quick pastry or sausage roll, but when Christmas comes around, they also start selling sugary drinks. This year they’re selling  a Mint Hot Chocolate and a Mint Mocha, both of which have a whopping 46 g of sugar in them (almost 11 teaspoons of sugar). It’s probably best to skip these drinks. Your teeth will thank you.

Pret a Manger’s Mint Hot Chocolate

Just when you thought drinks couldn’t get any more sugary, Pret a Manger comes along and releases their Mint Hot Chocolate. This drink alone contains 47.9 g of sugar (11.4 teaspoons). That’s way over a day’s recommended maximum sugar intake.

Pret a Manger also offers another type of hot chocolate called a Hazelnut Hot Chocolate. But don’t think this one is any healthier though because it also contains 47.9 of sugar. How about a glass of water instead?

Conclusion

Unfortunately, many Christmas drinks sold by high street chains are high in sugar. Whether it’s hot chocolate, eggnog or a mint mocha, there’s usually a lot of sugar in them.

It might seem like there’s no escaping sugar at Christmas. After all, sugar is not only in what we drink, it’s also in what we eat at this time of year: mince pies, Christmas pudding, gingerbread men, candy canes and so on.

But there’s an easy way to cut down the amount of sugar you ingest at Christmas. That way is to drink water. By saying ‘no’ to festive drinks and ‘yes’ to more water, you’ll help ensure that your teeth stay healthy and strong all year round.

Dry mouth – causes and treatments

Have you ever heard about a condition known as dry mouth? it’s a problem that affects as many as two-thirds of people at some point in their lives.

Dry mouth is a condition where your mouth doesn’t have enough saliva to keep it moist. This can make your mouth feel dry and sore. It can also cause your lips to crack. You may also feel very thirsty.

One of the dangers of dry mouth is the effect it can have on your oral health. When your mouth is dry, it tends to become acidic, which is the perfect environment for cavities and gum disease to occur. For this reason, it’s best to treat dry mouth as soon as possible.

In this blog post, we will look at dry mouth at all stages of life: childhood, adulthood and old age. After this, we’ll discuss how to treat it.

Causes of dry mouth in childhood

Dry mouth is rare in children. Even so, it is still worth discussing. Some of the causes of dry mouth in children include:

• Certain medical conditions, such as Sjogren’s syndrome and diabetes
• Certain medications, such as medications prescribed for mood disorders
• Diarrhoea can temporarily cause dehydration and dry mouth

Dry mouth in adulthood

Dry mouth occurs much more frequently in adulthood than it does in childhood. The causes of dry mouth in adults include

• Medical conditions such as Sjogren’s syndrome and diabetes
• Medications, such as those prescribed for high blood pressure and allergies
• Diarrhoea

As you can see, the causes of dry mouth in adulthood are much the same as the causes in childhood.

Dry mouth in old age

Older people are the demographic most likely to have dry mouth. This is because older people, in general, have more illnesses and medications than younger people.

• Medical conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease and diabetes
• Medications for high blood pressure and allergies

Even though dry mouth occurs more often among older people than younger people, it should not be considered to be a normal part of ageing. Instead, there is usually an underlying cause which can be treated once discovered.

Treating dry mouth

If you suffer from dry mouth, then the best thing to do is to see a doctor for medical advice. Your doctor should help you to discover the cause of your dry mouth and plan treatment.

However, there are a few things you can do in the meantime to alleviate your symptoms.

• Chew gum. Sugar-free gum is a great way to stimulate the production of saliva in your mouth, and what’s more, it won’t harm your teeth.
• Drink plenty of water. If your mouth doesn’t make enough saliva, then you will need to drink plenty of water to compensate for it.
• Avoid anything that dehydrates your mouth. Several things can dehydrate your mouth and it’s best to avoid these. They include smoking, alcohol, and coffee. So switch your morning coffee to a glass of water instead.
• Breathe through your nose instead of your mouth. Some people have the habit of breathing through their mouth. This isn’t ideal as it can dry your mouth out. It’s best to breathe through your nose instead.