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Avoid Treating Your Teeth Like Tools

| health, hygiene, Patient Education

The next time you’re tempted to rip a piece of tape with your teeth, or use your pearly whites to pry the lid off a bottle, think about the possible consequences of your actions. The more you use your teeth as tools for opening various objects, the greater the risk of causing permanent damage. In fact, using your teeth for any other reason than their intended purpose can cause chipping, cracking, and breakage to occur. Read the following tips to avoid damaging your teeth on foreign objects.

Find a Bottle Opener

Using your teeth to pop the metal top off a glass bottle might impress your friends, but it could result in a cracked or chipped tooth. Additionally, the sharp metal edges of a bottle cap could easily cut your gums and mouth. Avoid injury to your pearly whites by investing in a bottle opener.

Do Not Use Your Teeth as Scissors

Most sealed packages (boxes, bags of chips, envelopes) and sales tags require a sharp object to open. Resist the urge to rip into packages using your teeth. Instead, grab a pair of scissors or a box cutter. Using your teeth as scissors can lead to cracked and chipped teeth, and can cause your jaw to dislocate out of proper alignment.

Teeth Are Not Nutcrackers

Avoid chomping on nuts like a squirrel. Instead, find a nutcracker to pry open tough shells to avoid an emergency trip to the dentist. Nutshells cause teeth to crack, and can cause serious damage to your enamel. Over time, nutshells act like sandpaper on your teeth, sanding away bits of enamel each time you open a nut. If this action is repeated regularly, you will visibly start to see the parts of your tooth that have been worn away.

Although teeth serve many functions, acting as a tool is not one of them. Always avoid using your teeth as tools for anything other than chewing food. However, if you find yourself with a cracked tooth or other dental injury, Longmeadow Family Dental Care offers restorative services to get your teeth back in top shape! To learn more about our restorative services, call or make an appointment with your Longmeadow dentist today.