For lots of people, they love to chew on ice. Maybe it’s in the cool treat that they’re having, or to relieve boredom and stress. Some also believe that it’s used to cut back calories, which might seem a bit strange, but could be a use for it. It might seem harmless, but it’s actually super damaging to your teeth. If you do this, you’ll want to stop this right away, and here are a few reasons why chewing ice might not be for you.
First thing’s first, is that it will wear down the enamel of the teeth, which is what’s used to keep your teeth fortified and protected from when you chew on stuff, bite into things, grind, and even crunch. The more that it wears down, the more likely that you will have tooth damage, sensitivity, and even cavities as well, which isn’t good.
It also can ruin fillings. Putting old ice on your mouth causes the fillings to expand. When they do, they last for a shorter period, so make sure that you don’t do this if you want to not go to the deNtisT as much. Plus, if you do ruin fillings it’ll cause you to have to get them refilled, which isn’t fun.
It also can puncture the gum base, since it’s hard and sharp and it can damage the gum tissue. With the tissue already at risk with the foods that you eat, or even if it is already suffering because of gum disease, there is no need for this to be worse, that’s for sure.
It also tends to crack the teeth. Sharp edges on the ice that you have is known to crack teeth. When you do bite down on ice, it puts a ton of pressure on the small parts of your mouth, and sometimes, your mouth can’t handle this sort of thing. That’s when fractures develop over time, and because of this, it’ll then start to make smaller fractures larger. To fix large fractures in your teeth, you need crowns and root canals.
It also increases your teeth sensitivity. If you expose your teeth to extreme temperature changes when you chew on ice, causes damage to the nerves within your teeth. This causes tooth sensitivity, so if you already suffer from this, it’ll make it worse.
It causes a lot of headaches and toothaches. This can also make you feel a bit of a brain freeze, and it makes your jaw hurt. These are irritations not just in your mouth. If you move your jaw around to bite down on this, it can give you a headache, create soreness in the jaw area, or even case a brain freeze to develop, which isn’t fun at all. If you irritate these soft tissues as well, it causes a toothache, which isn’t fun whatsoever.
Finally, if you are doing this, it actually can be associated with other major health issues that are there, such as a lack of nutrition, stress, OCD, and even developmental disorders. If you crave doing this, you might have an iron deficiency as well, and anemia. Scientists do believe that the need to chew on ice also is used to soothe oral inflammation that comes from an iron deficiency anemia. This is something that you need to think about, because if you do have anemia, it actually can result in a lot of other conditions as well, which aren’t fun to deal with, and overall can be quite annoying.
If you do feel like you need to chew on ice, there are alternatives to this, such as cool drinks that have nice but you can have it via a straw, popsicles, or even slushies. Save the health of your teeth by making sure that you don’t chew on ice, since it can cause a whole array of health problems for you, and it’s something that you shouldn’t really do because of the effects that it has on the body. It might seem like a very innocent habit, since after all, ice is just water, but the fact that it’s in that form can wreak havoc on your teeth, and that’s something bad. It is always recommended to consult your dentist in case of any complication related to oral health.
Sara Kelly 