Dental health mistakes: Even if you think you’re doing everything right, there may be dental mistakes you’re making every day that you’ve never considered. Daily habits that might seem like no big deal add up over the years, setting you up for bad breath, gum recession, and sensitive teeth in the long run—but don’t worry, many of these are reversible or involve a simple change in your oral care routine!
Here are the top five mistakes I see all the time, along with how to fix them so you can be well on your way to better dental health.
1. Brushing Too Hard
Harder isn’t better when it comes to brushing. In fact, if you brush your teeth too hard, you could be causing damage to your mouth, specifically, your gums.
When you brush your teeth too hard, your gums will begin to recede up and away from your teeth. This leaves sensitive parts of the tooth exposed, and it can also make you more susceptible to gum infections.
This problem is compounded when you’re brushing too hard with an old toothbrush. When nylon toothbrush bristles are first made, they are rounded into little domes to make them less abrasive to your teeth, but as they wear away with use, they become sharper, like little knives. This can cause damage to tooth structure and enamel, literally wearing your teeth away and making them susceptible to damage and cavities. I recommend replacing your toothbrush every four weeks if you’re brushing twice a day
All of these problems are even further compounded if you’re also brushing too hard. Brushing too hard not only contributes to tooth enamel being stripped away, it also doesn’t clean teeth effectively. When you brush hard, you usually have less control over where your brush is going, meaning you’ll clean the outside of each tooth quickly, but you won’t get into the spaces between teeth.
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