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Is Chewing Ice Bad for Your Teeth?

Chewing Ice and Your Teeth
Chewing Ice and Your Teeth

Summer is upon us. And if you doubted that you can take a look at the thermometer. With the hot days and weeks ahead of us, we always look to find ways of keeping ourselves cool.

You’ve always been told to drink plenty of water every day, but especially on hot days. Well, how about chewing on ice cubes? Isn’t that the same as drinking water plus it cools us way down!

The problem with chewing on ice cubes is that it can cause damage to your teeth. There are all sorts of crunchy foods we all eat and enjoy: pretzels, nuts, chips, etc. All of these foods (including ice cubes) place a tremendous amount of force upon our teeth and jaw joints. And the more we subject our chompers to these types of foods the more chance of dental trauma we have. Chipped teeth, cracked or broken fillings, loose caps and jaw pain are just a few examples. And while these are all repairable by your dentist, this damage is avoidable. So when it comes to chewing on ice, simply don’t. We subject our teeth to plenty other hard and crunchy stuff. One less is better. Instead of actively biting into and crushing the ice cube in your mouth, just move it around with your tongue and let it melt naturally. You’ll feel the cooling effect of the ice cube in your mouth, get the water that you need and avoid damaging your teeth. Be sure to check out our other blog posts for healthy summer snacks and more.

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Who Wants a Black Filling?

Ever wonder what the old “silver” fillings or “amalgam” fillings look like after a few years in the mouth? What are dental fillings and why do they turn black.

What is a Filling?

Dental Fillings were created decades ago to allow dentists to fix teeth that were decayed. And while a lot of scientific findings from those days were used to create the filling material, they leave a lot to be desired by today’s standards.

Silver fillings have been placed for a long time (and still continue to be placed in some dental offices and clinics). They are an economical solution to fixing a cavity. However, they do pose several major problems.

Silver Fillings – Risks

Tooth cavities, black fillings, broken teeth
Amalgam fillings turn black and corrode over time

Silver fillings start oxidizing and turning black after exposure to fluids and bacteria in the mouth. Over time, this leads to the filling slowly turning black. Not only that, this black stain then stains the adjacent tooth structure and other teeth.. This is obvious to anyone, not just dentists. They leak and stain the tooth structure around them. Looking at the photo you can see the gray shadows that are spreading out from the filling inside the tooth. They cause teeth to break prematurely. Because of their metallic nature, they expand and contract differently than enamel and dentin when exposed to high and low temperatures. Because of this difference in expansion and contraction rate, they place a lot of unnecessary stress on the tooth.

Silver fillings contain mercury. Follow this link to learn more about mercury and its effect on our health.

Alternative to Silver Fillings

white fillings, porcelain onlay
White fillings are more esthetic

The picture here shows while what fillings look like. White fillings are not just more esthetic and pretty. They resemble the tooth structure they are replacing making teeth less likely to fracture. Also, these white fillings are bonded to the teeth chemically. This helps solidify the tooth as a unit, instead of having something lodged in the center of the tooth causing it to split over time. These white fillings are also easier to repair and maintain compared to a silver filling.

The next time you are given a choice between a silver filling and a white filling, you’ll be better prepared to choose the white filling knowing it is a better material that not only looks better but is better for the health of the tooth. At Platinum Dental, Inc. we only use white fillings when a filling is necessary. Follow this link to learn more about white fillings.

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Dental Nightguard Saves You Thousands

A dental nightguard can help prevent jaw pain.

It is common knowledge that some people clench or grind their teeth during sleep. You yourself or a loved one may be suffering from this nighttime habit.

And while patients have been told that they probably clench their teeth in their sleep and they should have a nightguard, they don’t know what happens if they don’t get a nightguard.

When we bite down on our back teeth, our chewing muscles generate a tremendous amount of force. During waking hours when we eat our food we can control how hard we bite down.  While sleeping, we no longer have this control. So the forces generated by the clenching during sleep can be much higher which places a great amount of stress on the teeth. These repetitive periods of stress on the teeth result in the teeth developing micro-fractures. Over time, these micro-fractures lead to an actually visible fracture where a piece of a tooth breaks off.  At other times the nerve in the tooth gets damaged. There is a whole host of other problems that are caused by excessive nighttime clenching such as locked jaws and headaches.

The bottom line is that nighttime clenching and grinding of the teeth end up causing injuries to the teeth and the surrounding structures. These injuries could be minimized (or even avoided altogether) with the use of a properly fitted custom mouthguard.

There are different kinds of mouthguards for different problems. For example, people who have headaches due to their nighttime clenching need a different type of nightguard versus someone who is cracking and chipping their teeth.

Mouthguards range in price from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars. However, they more than pay for themselves by saving you the cost of the dental treatment for fixing a broken tooth or a root canal therapy on one or multiple teeth.

Custom-made nightguards have proven to be effective in reducing the damaging effects of clenching or grinding.  If you have been told in the past that you clench, or if you know you do even if no one has mentioned it, talk to your dental healthcare provider or contact us and Dr. Eslampour can help you determine if a nightguard is appropriate for you.