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Dental Myths: Busted

If you aren’t going to your dentist on a regular basis, it can be easy to rely on hearsay from other people and social media. Check out our list of common myths we hear from patients and ensure you aren’t falling for the same old wives’ tales.

Diet sodas can’t hurt your teeth

It’s true that diet sodas typically have zero sugar, which is great when you want to avoid feeding bacteria. But just because they have a lower sugar content compared to your favorite soft drink doesn’t mean diet sodas are harmless to your mouth.

Carbonated soft drinks get their fizz from carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide reacts in your mouth making carbonic acid. This results in a highly acidic environment, which bacteria loves. The acid can also eat away at your enamel. It takes about 20 minutes for your mouth to neutralize this acidic environment and avoid further damage, so every time you take a sip the 20-minute clock resets.

My teeth are white, so they must be healthy!

Color is not necessarily an indicator of healthy teeth. So, off-white teeth aren’t necessarily unhealthy either. White teeth are aesthetically pleasing, you can easily have cavities and sensitivity problems with gleaming chompers.

Your teeth are covered by a layer of enamel, which is naturally translucent. The yellow hue of your dentin below your enamel is what gives your teeth their color. If you naturally have thinner or more translucent enamel, your teeth may appear more yellow.

Only kids get braces

Traditional braces, or more modern advancements such as invisible aligners, treat crowding, misaligned, or crooked teeth. So as long as you have any of those issues, it’s perfectly acceptable to get braces.

As long as I brush twice a day, it doesn’t matter what time

When you brush your teeth is important. The idea is to avoid sugars or acidic environments from sitting on your teeth for long periods of time. Brushing your teeth before bed is imperative to removing as much harmful bacteria as possible before letting them run amok on your mouth. Brushing in the morning, prior to eating, is also recommended. If you wait to brush your teeth until after your breakfast, it’s best to wait an additional 30 minutes. This is because the enamel of your teeth is slightly weaker after eating and brushing while in this vulnerable state can actually cause more damage.

It doesn’t matter if I don’t care for my baby teeth

While baby teeth are designed to fall out, it’s important to instill good oral hygiene habits when your child is young. To add to this, baby teeth act as necessary guides for permanent teeth: in the event of a cavity in a baby tooth, unnatural spacing can occur. Keeping up with the health of the baby teeth can ensure prolonged health of the mouth in the future.

My teeth feel fine, I don’t need to go to the dentist

Painful teeth are just one reason you should go to the dentist, but there are plenty of issues you are unable to detect without diagnostic equipment and the trained eye. Apart from ensuring your mouth looks healthy, we routinely scan for signs of issues like gum disease and oral cancer.

Our goal at Grove City Dental is to ensure you are happy with your care and enjoy superb oral health. If you have any questions about possible dental myths you’ve heard or read on the internet, feel free to discuss these with our staff at your next appointment: we’d love to bust them for you!

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Grove City Dental