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Never Forget That Teeth Are Not Tools

Live Life Smiling

teeth-are-not-tools
  • Holmes and Palmer Orthodontics
  • June 29, 2022

 

TEETH HAVE MANY different uses, from chewing our food to helping us speak clearly to forming the structure of our faces. They also give us our smiles! These are the uses our teeth are for, but we risk causing serious damage to them when we use them as tools for other jobs.

Teeth Do Not Make Good Scissors or Nail Clippers

Nail-biting is a habit that can do enough damage to fill its own blog post, but it ties into the topic of proper and improper uses for teeth. The area underneath our fingernails is essentially impossible to properly clean. Germs love to grow there, and they transfer to our mouths when we bite our nails. Nail-biting also causes a lot of unnecessary wear and tear to the front teeth, potentially even shifting them out of place.

Apart from biting nails, it may sometimes seem convenient to bite through something like a piece of tape. The sawing motion to cut through tape involves a lot of grinding that damages the surface of the teeth. It’s not the same as a chewing motion. Some people even use their teeth on materials like wire, which can wear notches into them. It’s worth the extra few seconds to use scissors or pliers instead!

Teeth Are for Chewing Nuts, Not Cracking Them

If you enjoy pistachios, peanuts, walnuts, pecans, or even the half-popped kernels at the bottom of the popcorn bag, don’t use your teeth to crack them. It’s a great way to chip or crack a tooth, especially one that’s already undergone a dental procedure or one that has an untreated cavity. It’s much safer to use your hands or a nutcracker.

Teeth Are Not Good for Opening Bottles

Tooth enamel might be the hardest substance in the human body, but it’s much too brittle to withstand metal bottle caps. A tooth can chip on the edge, and even a little slip could result in a nasty gash on the lips or gums. Even if you think it looks cool to open a bottle with your teeth, we as dental professionals urge you to use an actual bottle opener.

Don’t Use Teeth as a Third Hand

If we’re in the middle of a busy task and run out of hands to hold things, it can be easy to briefly stick a pencil, some nails, or a few sewing pins in our mouths until we have a hand free. The added convenience isn’t worth the risks. Being hit with a sudden yawn, hiccup, sneeze, or cough, or even tripping over something could end in disaster.

Even without anything that dramatic, these items cause unusual wear on the chewing surfaces. Seamstresses who hold sewing pins in the same spots between their teeth over the years wear dents into them. Just use the pincushion instead!

Make Sure You Only Use Your Teeth for Their Intended Purposes

Fracturing and cracks are the third-highest cause of tooth loss, and we significantly reduce the risk of needing an emergency dental visit and a series of expensive restorative procedures if we only use our teeth for chewing and speaking. Also make sure to brush twice a day, floss daily, and schedule your regular dental checkups!

Another intended use of teeth is smiling, which we love to see!

Top image used under CC0 Public Domain license. Image cropped and modified from original.
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.

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EVERY SMILE TELLS A SPECIAL STORY

We are thankful for the opportunity to serve our community with excellent care and take pride in our mission of having a patient-centered philosophy. Check out what our patients are saying about us!

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Ron T.
Holmes & Palmer Orthodontics is a great place to take your children. My daughter likes it very well, the doctors and the people that work there very respectable and nice and they make you feel very comfortable. I would highly recommend them to anyone.
Ron T.
They are very professional I like the doctors and the people that work there. They’re very nice. I would highly recommend them to anybody.
Ron T.
They are very professional I like the doctors and the people that work there. They’re very nice. I would highly recommend them to anybody.
Rebecca S.
I went for a consultation about Invisalign. The staff was so welcoming. Dr. Holmes was very professional and compassionate to me. I have Trigeminal Neuralgia and he was very attentive to my concerns. I look forward to my journey of having the perfect smile.
Rebecca S.
I went for a consultation about Invisalign. The staff was so welcoming. Dr. Holmes was very professional and compassionate to me. I have Trigeminal Neuralgia and he was very attentive to my concerns. I look forward to my journey of having the perfect smile.
Ron T.
They are a great place to take your children too. The doctors and people that work. There are very nice and I take the time out to explain what your child needs which that’s what I like, I would highly recommend them to anybody.
Ron T.
They are a great place to take your children too. The doctors and people that work. There are very nice and I take the time out to explain what your child needs which that’s what I like, I would highly recommend them to anybody.
Ron T.
My daughter loves Holmes & Palmer orthopedics, they are very nice. The doctors and the people that work there are very nice. they really sit down and talk to you about what needs to be done and explaining it to you and that’s what I like about them I would highly recommend them.
Ron T.
My daughter loves Holmes & Palmer orthopedics, they are very nice. The doctors and the people that work there are very nice. they really sit down and talk to you about what needs to be done and explaining it to you and that’s what I like about them I would highly recommend them.
Angela F.
The staff is always so nice but today being the day my daughter got braces, they could tell
She was nervous and they were all so nice and comforting. Thank you all!
Angela F.
The staff is always so nice but today being the day my daughter got braces, they could tell
She was nervous and they were all so nice and comforting. Thank you all!
Sara L.
Homes and Palmer have taken care of all four of my children and giving them beautiful straight teeth!! I appreciate the time, effort and love they put into their patients! We are grateful to them and their dedication to being fabulous orthodontists!
Sara L.
Homes and Palmer have taken care of all four of my children and giving them beautiful straight teeth!! I appreciate the time, effort and love they put into their patients! We are grateful to them and their dedication to being fabulous orthodontists!
Meghan D.
My son has been a patient for over 2 years and has had nothing but excellent care and communication. We are excited to start the braces journey this month.
Meghan D.
My son has been a patient for over 2 years and has had nothing but excellent care and communication. We are excited to start the braces journey this month.
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