If you don’t care about having a GREAT SMILE for a Lifetime, here are the top ten ways to wreck your smile:

1. If nothing hurts in your mouth, everything must be OK. This couldn’t be furthest from the truth. After the age of 30, the number 1 reason to lose teeth is to gum disease. If the dentist or hygienist doesn’t remove tartar from your teeth, your gums will become inflamed and bone may be permanently damaged. Not only will you have bad breath, but also your teeth may get loose and be permanently lost.

2. Drink acidic beverages with your meals. Many people think its OK to drink diet sodas because these beverages have no sugar. Little do they realize that acid softens the enamel (the outside layer of the tooth) and acid makes teeth more susceptible to wear and decay. Acidic beverages include regular sodas, diet sodas, Gatorade, energy drinks, Arizona iced tea.

3. Don’t wear a Night Guard to protect your teeth as you grind your teeth in your sleep. A high percentage of people grind their teeth in their sleep. This causes chipping and shortening of your teeth. This translates into a very AGED looking smile!

4. Use your teeth as tools. If you can’t open something and you use your teeth, this is a great way to chip the edges of your teeth.

5. Don’t floss your teeth. If you don’t floss your teeth on a regular basis meaning once a day, you will be leaving bacteria and food between your teeth and underneath the gum line. This can lead to bad breath, tooth decay and gum disease.

6. Use the hardest toothbrush you can find to aggressively do a great job of cleaning your teeth. WRONG!!! Although enamel is the strongest substance in the body, it can still be worn away with a hard brush. Plaque is soft. To get plaque off your teeth, use a soft toothbrush to effectively clean at the gum line taking 2 minutes to clean your mouth.

7. Smoke cigarettes. Smoking is bad for both your teeth and gums. It causes your teeth to yellow and smoking can make your gums more prone to developing gum disease with bone loss. Smoke to lose your teeth at an early age.

8. Abuse drugs. Illegal medications such as cocaine and crystal meth cause dry mouth. If your mouth is not well lubricated and buffered by saliva, you can get decay practically overnight. These substances also cause you to feel jittery and clench your teeth, thus chipping the edges of your teeth.

9. Drink lots of red wine, coffee and tea. If you want to yellow your teeth the fastest, eat a lot of colored foods such as blueberries and drink a lot of colored beverages!

10. Eat frequently throughout the day without brushing your teeth. Every time you eat, the byproduct of bacteria munching on the food you eat will cause an acid attack. Keep that acid coming, don’t brush and don’t drink a lot of water to wreck your teeth the fastest!

Dr. Calvo is one of only 300 members in the world to achieve AACD Accreditation status.  Recently, she was honored by being selected as the featured dentist in an ad for Accreditation published in several dental journals.  Dr. Calvo is a well-respected Cosmetic Dentist in the Los Angeles and Beverly Hills areas.  Dr. Calvo is passionate about changing lives and increasing self-esteem in the patients she has helped serve through Smile Makeovers, Porcelain Veneers, Dental Implants and other artistic dental services. CLICK HERE: To become a member of her online community and receive her “5 Tips to a YOUTHFUL SMILE! – free special report. Click here to view her blog for more information or become a Fan of her Facebook FanPage by Clicking Here.

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 30th, 2011 at 1:53 am and is filed under Dental Hygiene. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.