Oral Fixations and How they Ruin your Smile

Many individuals can be found chewing or having something in their mouths, whether that is a toothpick, pens, one’s thumb, or a cigarette. We want to keep our mouth occupied, as it can relieve our nerves for the time being.

Remember in middle and high school when you had a big test, and when pondering over a question, you found yourself chewing on the end of your pen or pencil? You were not hungry, but you find yourself doing this peculiar behavior multiple times. It makes you feel comfortable or allows you to vent your frustration physically without causing harm to others. This is an oral fixation.

People with an oral fixation need some type of oral or mouth stimulation. As you got older, you noticed your smile isn’t the same as it used to be. The culprits are the items one puts in their mouth or activities that harm their oral health. The common form of oral fixation are chewing on pens or pencils and smoking.

Chewing on objects

Chewing utilizes the jaw and teeth. If you are fixated on chewing constantly, you will be traumatizing the joints of your jaw and may crack or fracture the edges of your teeth. And this does not only apply to aggressive chewing, but passive or semi-conscious chewing as well. Of course, this will take a while for the effects to be shown in your teeth, but noticing the habit and stopping will be better for your oral health in the long term.

Taking a Puff

Smoking has many negative side effects, and oral health is definitely not exempt from this. Smoking will lead to staining of your teeth and receding gum, as the contents of cigarettes are toxic to the human body. The smoker will also experience persistent bad breath and dry mouth. Continued use of cigarettes will cause individuals to have to look into receiving oral surgery in order to save their smile.

Children’s Dental Health

Oral fixation is usually started at a young age and continued into adulthood. If a parent or guardian notices their child are sucking on their thumbs or chewing items frequently, it is important to get annual dental checkups with the kid’s dentist to ensure their dental health. At home, teach the children proper oral hygiene, such as brushing and flossing their teeth two times a day (not aggressively), not chewing on items not meant to be put in their mouths, and limiting their intake of carbonated drinks. Your kids dentists are here to keep their smile bright and lively, and decrease their chances of having to have an expensive oral surgery due to erosion in their mouths.

Emerging Dental Problem

Oral fixation can lead into dental erosion, a problem that has been increasing in recent years. Constant chewing and grinding away of the teeth can weaken the enamel, which in turn will decrease its effect in protecting the teeth from acids introduced into the mouth through one’s diet and other extrinsic and intrinsic factors. Erosion of the enamel can be seen in the following ways:

• rounding of sharp angles
  dentine cupping or scooping
  thinning
  restorations above the tooth surface
  Stop Erosion in its Tracks

These problems can be halted with a regular dental checkup, and meeting with saskatoon dentists is a step towards bettering your oral hygiene. At a dental clinic saskatoon, saskatoon dentists are able to provide help to adults and children alike. If one’s teeth seem beyond the repair of a simple dental checkup, they will be able to provide a reparative or cosmetic dentistry saskatoon experience.

Erosion of your smile is a sad state and will leave you feeling less than your best. Thankfully, the general and cosmetic dentistry saskatoon offers many treatments at their dental clinic saskatoon:

• Teeth whitening
  Crown and bridge
  Implants
  The Final Touch

Dentists are here to help you with any oral problems you may have and act as a defense system to protect you against future dental issues. Frequent visits to a dental clinic and practicing oral hygiene will lead to a bigger and brighter smile for you and your children, and will keep erosion at bay.