6 Ways To Ruin Your Teeth

For some people, its the first thing they look at.  For others, they either have them or they don't.  I take moderate care of my teeth.  I do the essential and not much more.  You won't see my wasting money on Crest White Strips, but I will brush and floss as everyone should.

I stumbled upon this piece as I fingered through the prep this morning.  According to TotalBeauty.com, here are the 6 worst things we do to our teeth......

1.- Use a hard-bristled toothbrush -  A lot of people think that the harder the bristles, the better.  Not true!  Hard bristles will cause your gums to recede, which in turn exposes the root of the tooth.  Soft bristles are recommended !

2.- Consuming Diet Pop- The acids in diet drinks are really bad for your teeth.  Just because it says sugar-free doesn't make it good for your teeth.  These drinks are filled with citric and phosphoric acids that will lead to erosion.  Professionals recommend that you should drink water right after you drink diet soda to lessen the damage to your teeth.  Also....don't brush your teeth for 1 hour after the water.

3.- Birth Control- These pills trick your body into thinking it's preggo and that's not good for the teeth either!  These hormones can possibly lead to periodontal disease which is an infection that happens when your immune system can't compensate for the amount of bacteria in your mouth.  Suggestion: see your dentist every 3 months if you are on birth control.

4.- Snacking- Constant eating keeps punishing your teeth.  Consuming snack after snack prevents your teeth from getting the natural cleaning with your saliva.  Chips, crackers and bananas are the worst.  Those 3 foods actually work with bacteria to aid in the decay of your teeth!

5.- Swimming- Excessive chlorine is really bad for your teeth and believe me.....your teeth are taking a beating every time you swim.  If you swim regularly, dentists recommend that you bring a brush & fluoride rinse with you, so you can immediately brush and rinse.

6.- Whitening- Let me start off by saying that tooth whitening is safe.  What isn't safe is doing it too often.  Over-whitening can hurt your gums as well as your pearly whites.

(Radio Online)