Common Myths About Keeping Your Oral Health That Could Be Hurting Your Teeth

Most damage to your teeth isn’t from the neglect you’re used to hearing about like indulging your sweet tooth or skipping your annual dentist visit. It’s from habits you swear are keeping your teeth healthy. The chasm between what seems like good oral hygiene and what actually fosters a healthy smile is probably wider than you think – and some of the most common "healthy" habits are actually putting your tooth enamel at risk.

Brushing harder isn’t brushing better

We keep hearing this advice, but many of us still tend to brush our teeth too hard. The fact is that gentle pressure is enough to clean the plaque. Plaque is a soft biofilm, so it doesn’t require aggressive brushing to remove it. However, repeated aggressive brushing can lead to wearing down the enamel, which is the protective layer of your teeth. It doesn’t grow back.

So, when enamel is lost, the sensitive part of your tooth, or the dentin, gets exposed. This can lead to pain and other dental problems. Brushing too hard can also damage your gums and lead to gum recession. So, next time you brush your teeth, do it with a soft hand and don’t forget to use a soft-bristled brush as well.

The "wait and see" approach to pain

Myths like "if it doesn’t hurt, it’s fine," are actually dangerous. A dull ache, sensitivity that comes and goes, a small crack you’ve noticed but that doesn’t hurt much – those become "wait and see" issues. Small pain or none is tolerated because people assume that minor or tolerable pain means minor dental problem.

But in reality, minor toothaches and pains just don’t happen. Only minor dental problems start that way. A sensitivity could easily be a small cavity (or even a developing one reaching into the pulp of the tooth). That crack could be growing larger and longer every time you chew, until it hits the root. And, as we noted above, pain from an infected tooth doesn’t necessarily rise to levels of agony because it is trapped in the solid shell of your tooth. It can plateau or even subside.

By the time minor pain becomes major pain, your best option is an Emergency Dentist Epping visit on the weekend. Early intervention is nearly always faster, cheaper, and less uncomfortable than treating the same problem after it’s escalated.

"Sugar-free" drinks still destroy enamel

Many people consider sparkling water, diet soda, and flavored mineral water to be healthy options because they don’t have sugar. However, the real issue is not the sugar content but rather the acidity of the drinks.

Carbonated beverages are highly acidic and this acidity promotes demineralization, which is when minerals like calcium are leached from the enamel of your teeth. Diet cola, for example, has a pH of 3, and sparkling water is more acidic than flat water. The lack of sugar doesn’t cancel out the acid.

Saliva helps to neutralize acid over time, but if you’re sipping on acidic drinks for an hour, your pH levels don’t have a chance to recover. If you must have acidic drinks, have them with meals, and don’t brush for 30 minutes after you finish – brushing while your enamel is softened only hastens its erosion.

Rinsing after brushing washes away the protection

Many individuals tend to brush their teeth and then rinse their mouth with water, thinking that this will help get rid of all the germs. However, rinsing our mouths with water after brushing can wash away the concentrated fluoride that’s present on the tooth surface. This fluoride is crucial as it helps in the process of remineralization. Washing it away immediately diminishes its potential for interacting with the tooth to strengthen it.

Bleeding gums aren’t a sign of thorough cleaning

Many people may observe blood while brushing or flossing and assume that they are simply cleaning more vigorously than usual. The reality is they are not. Normal, healthy gum tissue does not bleed from routine contact. Bleeding is a symptom of gingivitis – active inflammation prompted by the presence of a bacterial infection within the soft gum tissue.

Gingivitis represents the early phase of gum disease. Thankfully, it is reversible at this stage. However, it will not go away by itself. If left unchecked, it will progress into periodontitis, whereby the bone and connective tissues that hold the tooth in place begin to deteriorate. So, if your gums bleed frequently, the solution is not to brush or floss with less vigor but to treat the infection before it gets out of hand.

The underlying pattern

All of these myths have an underlying theme in common: they make sense. It seems logical that if you brush your teeth harder, you’ll clean them better. It seems logical that if you rinse your mouth, you’ll get rid of the residue. It seems logical that if you wait a little while and take some pain relievers, your toothache might go away on its own.

The problem is that the biology of your mouth doesn’t usually follow your intuition. Your enamel doesn’t come back. Your receding gums don’t grow forth again. Your infection doesn’t know to wait and give you a break; it just keeps growing.

The answer to better oral health doesn’t usually lie in doing more things, it’s in making sure the things you do already work the way you think they do. An ounce of prevention nowadays can keep you from needing a pound of cure later.