Today, we’re going to talk about the five things that your dentist wishes you would stop doing.
1. Stop Chewing Ice
If you’re from the South and you like to go to Chick-fil-A, they have the best little nugget ice. I get it. I put it in my mouth. I want to chew it. Sometimes I do, and I catch myself, but I cannot tell you the damage that chewing ice does. It is just twofold.
The Damage Ice Chewing Causes
First, the ice is really hard, and so you’re putting a lot of force on those teeth, whether it’s your natural teeth or whether it’s crown or bridge work. It’s really hard, and when you crunch and grind into something hard, it’s a lot of wear and tear on your teeth.
Second, ice is cold, so it freezes the teeth, and it makes the teeth more susceptible to fracture. Also, the dental materials that we use are more susceptible to fracture. When you freeze them, they’re not as pliable, and they’re not as able to take those forces.
So please, please, please don’t chew ice. I know it’s hard to do, but that’s my number one recommendation that my patients stop doing.
2. Don’t Tear Things with Your Front Teeth
I know it’s convenient. I know sometimes it’s hard to find nail clippers or hard to find scissors, but when you bite a package and you rip it off with your front teeth, you’re putting so much force and duress on those teeth in a direction that they’re not designed to handle.
Why This is Harmful
Front teeth are designed for vertical chewing. You want to incise and cut through things. When you put your teeth like this, and you pull out, you’re putting a lot of force out in a horizontal way. And if you’ve got nice, healthy teeth, you’re probably going to be fine for a while. But if you’ve got fillings or veneers or any kind of tooth starting to break down, all of a sudden, if that force is stronger than the strength of those teeth, you’re going to do some damage.
Whether it’s something as minor as trimming a small amount of the tooth and smoothing it out or just applying a small filling, I can usually help correct that if necessary, but unfortunately, I’ve had some stories where patients bit on a thing and pulled it out, and they either broke off a crown, broke off a veneer, which causes a lot more damage and is more challenging to correct. I know it’s inconvenient, but please, if you can, get some scissors if you need to tear something open. Most of the things you can open by yourself. Don’t run the risk of damaging your teeth by biting something to rip it off.
3. Not Coming to See Us Every Six Months
Generally speaking, six months is a great timeframe to come in and see us. Even if you’re like, “Oh, my teeth are healthy. I have perfect teeth. I never hurt.” Just because nothing hurts doesn’t mean something might not be wrong. That’s the big concern.
Why Regular Visits Are Important
Six months is a good timeframe for us to check up on your gum tissue health and make sure you’re not accumulating plaque along the gum line where you can’t see it. Cavities, a lot of times, especially the small cavities, you won’t feel them at the beginning. And it’s one of those things where if we catch them when they’re small, a lot of times we can either put medicine on it to reverse the decay or we can do a small filling.
Oral Cancer Screenings
One of the other things we do at every checkup is an oral cancer screening. Oral cancer is a very, very debilitating disease. It’s one of the things that spreads very rapidly, and when it spreads, it has a long impact. When addressing oral cancer, we often need to resect the jaw, taking the tongue and parts of the tongue out. It’s one of those things that often could have been caught during a routine visit had you just come in, and somebody could have taken a look just to make sure everything was okay.
So, while it may seem like it’s not necessary, it may seem like it’s redundant to come in every six months, but we want to see you. My hygienists love our patients. We love our patients. We love seeing everybody every six months, catching up on stories about where the grandkids are going to college and where the kids are going to college. This family moved here, and upcoming weddings and family reunions. It’s not just a social visit, but that’s a component of it, too. We love growing with our family.
Even if you’re one of those people who think you don’t need to come see us, please come see us every six months. If, for some reason, we can’t make that work, we can talk. We can figure out a customized plan to stretch it out. You may be one of those people who need to see us every four months. We have a lot of patients that have either periodontal disease, a gum issue, dexterity, or home care issues where four months is a better window for us to keep everything in tip-top shape.
4. Disregarding the Importance of Your Mouth
We live in a world where people will have a million-dollar house and have a $40,000 car, but they will scoff at a couple thousand dollars to fix their mouth.
Why Your Mouth is Important
You use your mouth every single day, whether you’re eating three meals a day, snacking, not to mention talking, chewing, functioning. An ill-fitting denture, missing teeth, or broken down teeth really have an impact on your life. And unfortunately, it’s one of those things where if your teeth are fine, you don’t really think about ’em.
But I can tell you on an everyday basis, patients that have broken down teeth or toothache or are missing teeth, that impacts their quality of life. It’s a big deal. So if you can be in that situation where you can restore your mouth and you can keep it healthy, it’s definitely a worthwhile investment.
5. Don’t Be Scared of the Dentist
I know everybody has heard a horror story or has a family member that has this tragic experience with dentistry. Unfortunately, that does happen, but I can promise you it won’t happen here.
Why You Shouldn’t Fear the Dentist
We really do care about our patients. We want to make sure everyone’s comfortable. We actually cater to dental phobias. We have a lot of patients for the first time that are really scared and nervous and anxious. And I think a lot of that is the anxiety of the unknown and just assuming that this is going to be a horrible experience.
“I know they’re going to laugh at me. I know they’re going to talk about me. They’re going to put all this stuff in my mouth and cause me pain and discomfort.” And that’s not the way it is. We treat every person with respect. We love our patients. Come in and see us. We’ll take our time. We make sure that every patient gets the time they need so they can feel heard and addressed, and we’ll make sure we come up with a customized plan for you.
There really is no reason to be scared to come see us. Check us out online. We’ve got tons of five-star Google reviews from people. We love seeing our patients every visit. We look forward to seeing you. So please, if you’re not a patient, we’d love to meet you. We’d love to have you come join us and see us and show you that we are for real. We really are this nice. We really do love our patients.
Conclusion
Give us a call, make an appointment. I’m Dr. Brett Langston. I’m a prosthodontist and owner at Dental Implant and Aesthetic Specialists here in Brookhaven, Georgia, and we’re here to help you watch your mouth.