Your teeth help you bite and chew, form words and facial expressions, and more.

But as versatile as they are, your teeth are easier to damage – and more difficult to repair – than you might think! Let’s review a few “dos” and “don’ts” that can help you keep your smile strong and your enamel unbroken.

Taking care of your teeth: Dos and dont's

• Don’t: Carry things in your mouth.

  Holding scissors, pins, nails, screws, and other items in your mouth – even momentarily – can cause a lot of oral health damage! Hard or sharp metals and plastics can chip or crack your teeth or cut into your cheeks or gums.

• Do: Floss between your teeth every day.

  Dental floss removes bacteria and plaque between your teeth that your toothbrush can’t reach. That’s why it’s such an important part of your daily oral health routine.

• Don’t: Open containers with your teeth.

  When you’re faced with a stubborn bottle, box, or package, it can be tempting to tear it open with your teeth. This is not a good idea – in addition to harming your tooth enamel, you could also cut the inside of your mouth or pull a tooth out of alignment.

• Do: Open a new toothbrush every 3 months (or sooner if it starts to fray).

  An old toothbrush will not clean bacteria from your mouth as effectively and loose bristles could get stuck between your teeth.

• Don’t: Chew on non-food items like pencils, or fingernails.

  This habit can chip or crack your teeth or cut into your gums and cheek tissue. Make sure you don’t grind your teeth as a replacement for your pencil, either. Doing so can wear down your enamel and cause headaches.

• Do: Shield your teeth, gums, and cheeks from injury by using a mouth guard to protect yourself during sports and other physical activity. 

• Don’t: Crack nuts, seeds, and other hard foods.

  Very hard foods can easily crack your enamel, so be careful what you chew! Accidentally biting into the shells from a nut or other tough foods such as hard candies, popcorn kernels, and ice are common ways to chip or crack your teeth.

• Do: Carry floss with you.

  Even when you crack them the right way, nuts and seeds can easily get stuck in your teeth. Keep floss handy to take care of those pesky little pieces. 

If you chip, crack, break, or otherwise damage one or more of your teeth, visit your dentist as soon as possible so they can assess the problem and recommend treatment! Even small tooth injuries can lead to oral health issues such as inflammation, oral infection, and cavities.

Use your teeth as intended

They don’t come with written instructions (although your dentist can provide some). But there are still right and wrong ways to use your teeth! Reserve your teeth for chewing foods and find other ways to hold tools, open containers, or work off daily anxiety.