You know you shouldn’t be! But we do it all the time. It’s so easy to just use your teeth to open plastic bags, rip off sales tags, or hold on to small objects while you’re working on a task.
At Dr. Glenn Fortner’s dental office in Glen Allen, we see patients with chipped or broken teeth, and how do you think many of them got that way? You guessed it, using their teeth for something other than biting or chewing food!
What are the most important things you should avoid doing with your teeth?
● Don’t use your teeth to open things
Using your teeth to open shipping envelopes, bottle caps and candy bars can damage the individual teeth involved, but also throw your jaw joint out of balance, which can lead to chronic jaw pain, such as TMD/TMJ disorder.
● Don’t use your teeth as a scissors
Yes, those plastic sales tags are annoying! If you try to rip them with your hands, they feel like they could cut right through skin. Packing tape is another culprit—you just want to get it started and then rip the rest. Still a bad idea!
So what could happen if you use your teeth in ways nature didn’t really intend? Obviously you could chip or break your tooth, requiring a restoration, such as dental bonding, or a porcelain crown. Dr. Fortner offers both dental bonding and porcelain crowns for patients in Glen Allen.
So next time you’re in a hardware store, why not pick up a small multi-purpose tool and keep it handy in your car or in your kitchen? If you do experience a dental injury, no matter what the reason, please contact us at our dental office in Glen Allen at 877-849-2226 as soon as possible!