Key Takeaways:
- Daily habits such as aggressive brushing and using teeth as tools often cause damage to enamel.
- Switching to a soft-bristle brush and nano-hydroxyapatite toothpaste can help strengthen enamel.
- Hydration and professional care are essential pillars of a long-term oral health strategy.
Your smile is your introduction to the world. It is a gateway to your personality. Unfortunately, too many people don’t have confidence in the vibrancy or health of their smile, so they hide their teeth and show reluctance to the outside world.
It’s time to stop hiding. Achieving a radiant smile isn’t just about dental aesthetics; it’s about supporting your mouth’s natural ability to remineralize and strengthen from the inside out. In this guide, we’ll identify the “bad habits” that are sabotaging your smile and highlight the “good habits” that can lead to a brighter, healthier, and more confident you.
Stop the Sabotage: Habits That Harm Your Enamel
No one sets out to damage their teeth. In fact, most of us believe we’re doing everything in our power to protect our dental health. However, good dental health is about more than brushing and flossing; it’s about avoiding those all-too-common habits that can lead to enamel breakdown and dental decay, two of the primary reasons for cosmetic dentistry.
Aggressive Cleaning
Tooth enamel isn’t like subway tile; you don’t need to put that extra elbow grease into brushing to ensure your teeth are clean. In fact, brushing with excessive pressure or using stiff bristles can act like a Brillo pad on your teeth, gradually wearing down the protective enamel and pushing back the gumline. A softer approach is best, using gentle, circular motions with a soft-bristle brush.
The “Sipping” Trap
Most people know that carbonated soft drinks cause tooth damage, but it’s not always clear that, like soda and other sugary drinks, healthier acidic drinks, such as lemon water, can also affect enamel. Because it’s not just about what you drink, but how you drink it.
If you frequently sip on sodas, sports drinks, or lemon water, your mouth maintains a certain level of acidity. This continuous “acid bath” affects your saliva, hindering its ability to neutralize pH levels in the mouth. This, in turn, affects the remineralization of your tooth enamel. To avoid this, consider drinking these beverages quickly or only occasionally with a meal, rather than sipping them for hours on end.
Teeth as Tools
Teeth are for chewing, not for opening plastic packages or removing clothing tags. Using your pearly whites as makeshift scissors or pliers puts immense pressure on the integrity of your teeth. It can lead to chips, fractures, and other damage that requires professional intervention.
Ice and Hard Object Chewing
Similarly, your teeth aren’t designed for compulsive chewing on hard or cold objects, such as pen caps or ice cubes. The mouth isn’t a biological manifestation of the hydraulic press, and using it as such can lead to injuries and oral damage.
Unconscious Wear (Bruxism)
Bruxism is an unconscious habit of clenching or grinding your teeth. It’s often associated with stress, and avoiding it isn’t as simple as saying, “No more.” People who develop bruxism usually require a multi-faceted intervention that includes protective dental appliances, behavioral therapy, and physical therapy. Without intervention, the habit can lead to jaw fatigue, headaches, and the wearing away of the protective outer enamel layer of teeth, resulting in a dull yellow smile.
Build the Foundation: Habits That Strengthen Your Smile
Now that we’ve tackled the habits to leave behind, let’s turn our focus towards healthier habits necessary for a vibrant smile. It’s important to note that the following habits make up a tried-and-true routine, one proven to improve and help maintain long-term dental health.
Precision Brushing
Effective brushing is less about force and more about the technique and dental tools you use. To support the remineralization process, use a soft-bristle brush and a natural whitening toothpaste, one with an enamel-strengthening formula containing nano-hydroxyapatite. Apply the toothpaste to the brush, angle the brush 45° toward the gumline, and brush in smooth, gentle, circular motions for two minutes. Do this twice daily.
Interdental Cleaning (Flossing)
Did you know that simply brushing your teeth only cleans about 60% of the tooth surface? That means if you’re only brushing, you’re leaving behind 40% of daily plaque and food debris, which is why interdental cleaning – cleaning of the small spaces between teeth – is so important.
While there are many ways to clean these hard-to-get-to spaces (water flossers, wooden dental sticks, interdental brushes, etc.), the most common method is dental floss. By using the traditional nylon or plastic string, you’re able to dislodge plaque and food particles from a tooth’s proximal surface.
Protective Rinsing
After brushing and flossing, complete your brushing routine with a protective rinse, using an alcohol-free mouthwash. Traditional rinses that use harsh alcohol can actually dry out your mouth and disrupt your oral microbiome. Using a clean formula supports remineralization, keeps your mouth hydrated, and doesn’t leave you with that uncomfortable burn.
Strategic Hydration
While the above points make up a solid morning and evening routine, it’s important to stay hydrated throughout the day, but not with sugary or acidic drinks, just with plain old, thirst-quenching water. Water not only helps wash away food debris, sugars, and acids, but it also replenishes the salivary glands that are essential to maintaining a neutral pH level in the mouth and delivering essential minerals to your teeth to strengthen enamel.
Look Ahead: Long-Term Maintenance and Professional Care
Leaving behind or curbing bad habits and adopting new, healthier habits is an excellent first step towards a brighter, more vibrant smile, but it’s only the beginning. Daily habits are only the foundation; professional oversight is the thing that ensures lasting health.
If you want a healthy, bright smile you can show with confidence, visit your dentist at least every six months for a professional cleaning and checkup. Additionally, between visits, maintain your new, foundational habits.
Tess DiNapoli is an artist, freelance writer, and content strategist. She has a passion for yoga and often writes about health and wellness, but also enjoys covering the fashion industry and world of fitness.
