(not me, or my teeth, but i loved his toothy grin)

i read an article about the top tips and habits that dentists wish we’d stop doing to our teeth

it began with the list of the usual suspects:

 brushing too hard, skipping floss, drinking sugary and acidic drinks, all day grazing…

and then

the last ones, which were a bit more alarming and that i didn’t know were a habit for some:

Using your teeth as tools – Your teeth are built for chewing food (not ice) and that’s it. This may sound redundant to some, but you really should not be using them to open bottles or tear into packaging as it can crack or fracture a tooth (sometimes deep enough to reach the nerve and push you into root canal territory). Keep a real bottle opener on your keychain and scissors nearby instead of using your teeth as a tool.

DIY your own dental work –Filing your own teeth with a nail file, getting “veneers” from anyone who isn’t a licensed dentist or whitening with baking soda, hydrogen peroxide, or charcoal can cause permanent damage — chemical burns, brutal sensitivity, a thrown-off bite, and enamel erosion all won’t revert back.

Taking your advice from social media – Influencers may sound sure, but most of them don’t back their tips with evidence. A hack that’s fine for one mouth can absolutely wreck another mouth. Before you try a viral dental trend, please ask an actual dentist.

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Full disclosure: one of my daughters did make ‘braces’ for herself out of open paper clips because she was jealous of her older sister getting braces (until she really did need ‘real braces’ a year later and was no longer jealous), this may have fallen under the DIY dental work warning above.

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*jos’we do have a zeal for laughter in most situation, give or take a dentist.

-joseph heller, american author of catch 22