{"id":1000,"date":"2020-06-24T20:50:38","date_gmt":"2020-06-24T20:50:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/dental-care-blog\/your-teeth-are-not-tools\/"},"modified":"2020-06-24T20:50:38","modified_gmt":"2020-06-24T20:50:38","slug":"your-teeth-are-not-tools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/dental-care-blog\/your-teeth-are-not-tools\/","title":{"rendered":"Your Teeth Are Not Tools!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/106\/2020\/06\/tools_543.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"543\" height=\"543\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1001\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/106\/2020\/06\/tools_543.jpg 543w, https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/106\/2020\/06\/tools_543-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/106\/2020\/06\/tools_543-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 543px) 100vw, 543px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><b>HUMAN TEETH ARE<\/b> awesome. We wouldn\u2019t have dedicated our professional lives to working with them if we didn\u2019t think so. There are so many things they can do, from chewing food to providing support for the structure of our faces to facilitating clear speech to being part of our beautiful smiles. Unfortunately, a lot of people try to put their teeth to other uses they weren\u2019t designed for, which can lead to serious problems.<\/p>\n<h3>Just Use Scissors or Nail Clippers<\/h3>\n<p>We could talk at length about how bad a nail-biting habit is, both for the teeth and the nails, but we\u2019ll keep it short and sweet for now. <strong>Fingernails are the least sanitary parts of our hands<\/strong> because it\u2019s so hard to scrub the germs out from under them, and all those germs get into our mouths when we chew our nails. Nail biting also causes a lot of wear and tear to the teeth and can even shift them out of their correct alignment.<\/p>\n<p>We know it\u2019s quick and easy, but <strong>resist the impulse to bite through packing tape<\/strong>. It takes a lot more biting pressure to cut through a non-food item like tape than it does to chew actual food. Cutting through tape requires you to grind your teeth, which wears down the chewing surfaces and poses a risk of chipping or fracturing a tooth. It\u2019s bad enough chewing through tape, though; definitely don\u2019t try to cut wire with your teeth.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/4S7NW8xbiRs?rel=0\" width=\"543\" height=\"305\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3>Just Use a Nutcracker<\/h3>\n<p>Trying to crack open nuts with hard shells like walnuts, pecans, or pistachios \u2014 or even cracking popcorn kernels \u2014 carries a <strong>major risk of accidentally cracking or chipping a tooth<\/strong> instead. Teeth that have already had dental work done or have untreated cavities are especially vulnerable to damage. Just use a nutcracker!<\/p>\n<h3>Just Use a Bottle Opener<\/h3>\n<p>Just because tooth enamel is the hardest substance in the body doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s up to the task of popping a metal lid off a bottle. <strong>Enamel might be hard, but it\u2019s also very brittle.<\/strong> Using our teeth to open bottles is a great way to damage them, and if we slip, we could also damage the soft tissues of our lips or gums. It\u2019s just not worth it.<\/p>\n<h3>Just Set It Down<\/h3>\n<p>It might seem convenient to hold a pencil, some nails, or a few sewing pins in your mouth until your hands are free, but this can have some scary unintended consequences. What if you trip? What if you get caught off-guard by a sudden hiccup or yawn? There are cases of people choking on or swallowing things they only meant to hold in their mouths for a few seconds. But even if an accident never happens, <strong>these objects can still wear down the teeth.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3>Use Your Teeth for Teeth Things Only!<\/h3>\n<p>The third-highest cause of tooth loss is cracking and fracturing, so don\u2019t put your teeth at risk by using them for things they weren\u2019t designed to do! You\u2019ll save yourself an emergency dental visit and expensive repairs by sticking to using your teeth for chewing and talking. Also make sure to keep up the daily flossing, twice-daily brushing with a soft-bristled brush, and twice-yearly dental visits!<\/p>\n<h4>Our patients have the best smiles!<\/h4>\n<h6>Top image used under <span style=\"color: #2a7abd;\"><a style=\"color: #2a7abd;\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/share-your-work\/public-domain\/cc0\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">CC0 Public Domain license<\/a><\/span>. Image cropped and modified from original.<\/h6>\n<h6><span style=\"color: #d9d9d9;\">The content on this blog is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of qualified health providers with questions you may have regarding medical conditions.<\/span><\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><b>HUMAN TEETH ARE<\/b> awesome. We wouldn\u2019t have dedicated our&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":1001,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[176,179,180,182,181],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-1000","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-dental-posts","category-general-dental","category-ortho","category-pediatric","category-176","category-179","category-180","category-182","category-181","description-off"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1000"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1000"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1000\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1000"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=1000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}