Have you ever cracked or broken your teeth? Or have you ever had one or more of your teeth knocked clean out by something? If anything like this happens, your first course of action is to look for an emergency dentist in Mornington, or wherever you are. The first thing the dentist is likely to ask you about is how the trouble started in the first place.
In fact, what are the most common ways that people crack, break and otherwise damage their teeth? Perhaps if we’re aware of the dangers that are out there, we can try to take steps to avoid them so we don’t have to be calling up the emergency dentist ourselves!
1. A Bite too Far
When one gets a little overly ambitious with naturally hard foods, or when one decides to use one’s teeth as a multi-tool, accidents will certainly start to happen. Certain candy, for example, is both extremely hard and sticky, causing it to act like superglue when you chomp down into it, damaging fillings, cracking crowns and other measures taken in the past to repair teeth. We bet as you were reading that, you felt a little phantom strain in your own teeth as you imagine biting down into a sweet (but hard) piece of toffee.
As for abusing your teeth, it’s common enough to see people opening food packets with their teeth, cans of soda and beer, and some people even using their teeth as a bottle opener to remove sealed caps. It’s a wonder more teeth don’t break more often.
2. Sports Injuries
Aussies love their sports, and especially their contact sports like Rugby and Aussie Rules. Even non-contact sports like Tennis and Cricket can see mouth injuries abound resulting from falls, stay balls flying off at random angles, and so on. Therefore, sports are a major part of how people in Australia get their teeth damaged.
What’s interesting is that in sports like rugby where such injuries are expected, the players at least wear fitted gum shields or mouth guards to protect against the worst effects. It can actually happen more often where you least expect it to, like on the golf course, or even the swimming pool or badminton court.
3. A Blunt Blow to the Face
Blows to the face that result in teeth being knocked out can be a part of sports injuries, sure, but what about accidental non-sports-related injuries? A dad roughhousing with his kids could easily find a well-planted kiddie foot right to his front teeth. Equally, a mum on her way to work could get accidentally hit in the face by a rushing commuter trying to get off the packed Metro.
None of these things are everyday occurrences, but that doesn’t mean they don’t happen. Another of the major culprits could be walking into hard surfaces at full pace: lampposts, open doors, hanging light fixtures…it’s all possible.
4. Teeth Severely Weakened by Cavities
The weaker one’s teeth are, the more susceptible they become to damage. It won’t take anything as strong as the above-mentioned toffee or the top of a glass beer bottle to crack or break teeth if their main structure has already been gravely weakened by cavities and other problems. Those with poor eating habits and poorer brushing habits (and who don’t floss) tend to fall victim to these problems.
Maintaining good oral hygiene with regular brushing and flossing, as well as a trip to the dentist every 6 months or so, should help to curb the possibility of your teeth becoming compromised to this degree. You can check out this dentist in Keene to start your journey to healthier teeth.
