{"id":1198,"date":"2022-05-11T22:27:21","date_gmt":"2022-05-11T22:27:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/dental-care-blog\/chewing-ice-is-bad-for-our-teeth\/"},"modified":"2022-05-11T22:27:21","modified_gmt":"2022-05-11T22:27:21","slug":"chewing-ice-is-bad-for-our-teeth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/dental-care-blog\/chewing-ice-is-bad-for-our-teeth\/","title":{"rendered":"Chewing Ice Is Bad for Our Teeth"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

WE HEAR A LOT<\/b> that it\u2019s bad to chew ice. It\u2019s because ice can do a lot of damage to our teeth and gums.<\/p>\n

Extreme Temperature Changes Versus Enamel<\/h3>\n

Tooth enamel might be the strongest substance in the body, but it\u2019s also brittle. The issue with ice isn\u2019t just that it\u2019s hard, it\u2019s also that it\u2019s cold. Extreme temperature changes cause tooth enamel to expand and contract, creating tiny cracks and weakening the overall structure. It\u2019s the same thing that happens to pavement in places that get snow.<\/p>\n

Gum Injuries and Tooth Damage<\/h3>\n

While weaker enamel can lead to tooth sensitivity and vulnerability to decay, ice also isn\u2019t good for gum tissue. It\u2019s so cold that it creates a numbing effect, which can make it difficult to notice if it causes an injury to the gums. It\u2019s also hard enough to break or chip teeth.<\/p>\n

Where Do the Cravings Come From?<\/h3>\n

Why crave ice if there are only downsides to chewing it? The scientific term for compulsive ice eating is pagophagia. It could indicate an eating disorder called pica (the compulsion to eat non-food items, or it could be related to iron deficiency anemia. The chill of ice stimulates blood flow, counteracting low oxygen levels in the brain, but that only treats a symptom of anemia, not the cause.<\/p>\n

Top image used under CC0 Public Domain license<\/a><\/span>. Image cropped and modified from original.<\/h6>\n
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":"

WE HEAR A LOT<\/b> that it\u2019s bad to chew ice. It\u2019s because ice can do a lot of damage to our teeth and gums.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":1199,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[176,179,184,180,182,181],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[809,72,810,811,400,189,87,812,813,814,205,191,815,47,240,46,816,817,115,285],"class_list":["post-1198","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-dental-posts","category-endo","category-general-dental","category-ortho","category-pediatric","category-176","category-179","category-184","category-180","category-182","category-181","description-off"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1198"}],"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=1198"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1198\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1198"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=1198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}