Greetings, everybody! Today we shall harbor this small topic that is nail biting. This is a habit that is usually born during childhood and is kept throughout adulthood. Not only does this make our nails look funny and uneven, but can affect our bite and smile.
So for this article, we shall explain why it is bad for your teeth and what you can do to stop it.
What is nail biting?
Nail biting is just that, biting your nails in order to relieve stress and/or anxiety. This is usually done out of stress and/or anxiety, or even associated to disorders such as OCD and ADHD. Other than ruining the aesthetic of your nails, it also proves bad for your teeth.
Los Algodones dentists say this habit compares to that of chewing on pencils and clenching of the teeth, which is common to end up in headaches, facial pain and tooth sensitivity.
Why should we avoid it?
First and foremost, it is comparable to bruxism, which is the act of clenching and grinding our teeth.
Furthermore, it has been proven that biting your nails can harm your teeth in the long run. More specifically, the damage ranges from chipping, cracking, wearing down your tooth enamel to even hurting your braces. So by reflecting on the habit and overcoming you will be saving yourself some extra visits to the dentist.
So here you have a small list of the bad things it brings to your life:
- It is harmful for your teeth. This goes for all kinds of objects: pencils, bottle caps, ripping tape with your teeth. They all take the toll on your pearly whites.
- Contributes in making your enamel wear down faster. Chewing constantly and so close to your other teeth makes it quite easy to harm your tooth enamel. And a loss of enamel means you will be suffering from tooth sensitivity!
- It is very unsanitary. Not only are we in contact with everything with our hands, dirt and other things tend to get stuck under our nails too. This is a really easy way for germs to get inside your mouth and body.
- Puts unnecessary stress on your teeth. This is pretty important, as for people with braces are to suffer the most. Braces place a great deal of pressure on the teeth, so when increasing that it can not only weaken your teeth, but also your orthodontic treatment as well.
How do to overcome nail biting
The most important part of this is the will to make a change! We applaud your initiative here in Los Algodones! So for this, we shall give you these:
- Try to maintain your nails short as to make nail biting less tempting and difficult.
- Change the habit of nail biting into something else. That is, whenever you get the urge to do it, make yourself do something else instead. Keep your hands busy!
- Know what causes you to want to bite your nails. Solving and easing up those situations will prove crucial. The most common causes would be boredom, anxiety and stress.
- Find bitter-tasting nail polish. This is a special nail polish that is designed for the sole purpose to discourage not only nail biting but thumb sucking and so on.