I’m a cosmetic dentist – here’s why you should never open packets with your teeth

A dentist has shared three things you should avoid doing to your teeth to avoid permanent damage.

Dr. Shahira Saad, a cosmetic dentist in California, posted a video in August as part of her series, “Things You Should Never Do to Your Teeth.”

‘You can trust me; I’m a cosmetic dentist,” she said in the TikTok video, which has nearly eight million views.

She warned that trendy charcoal toothpaste can strip away enamel, causing teeth to gradually begin to yellow.

And using your teeth to open a bottle or tear open a bag can cause tears that are expensive to repair.

Finally, chewing ice can be satisfying, but Dr Saad warned that it could be a sign of chronic diseases such as anaemia.

Here are three practices that Dr. Saad recommends avoiding:

Charcoal toothpaste

Toothpaste made from activated charcoal has become increasingly popular in recent years. Proponents claim it can whiten teeth, remove surface stains, eliminate plaque and freshen breath.

However, Dr Saad said the opposite is true. “You shouldn’t use charcoal toothpaste,” she said.

Charcoal is very abrasive and actually wears away the top layer of your enamel. Over time, this can lead to yellowing of your smile by exposing the underlying tooth structure called dentin.’

Enamel is the outer protective covering of the teeth and is considered the hardest substance in the body. Dentin is a layer located directly under the enamel. When dentin is exposed to abrasive substances such as charcoal toothpaste, teeth become sensitive.

A growing body of research suggests that charcoal toothpaste may do more harm than good.

A 2017 STUDY found that because of its abrasiveness, activated charcoal can damage tooth enamel when used too long or too aggressively.

Moreover, a 2019 REVIEW in the British Dental Journal found that charcoal slightly protects against tooth decay.

And a 2021 STUDY compared the whitening effects of charcoal and fluoride toothpaste and found no difference.

Using teeth as tools

It’s easy to use your teeth to open a bottle or rip open an envelope when you don’t have the right tool handy.

However, this can cause damage that is expensive and painful to repair.

“This can cause you to crack your teeth in an unfavorable way, leading to the need for a crown, root canal, or even an extraction,” said Dr Saad.

A dental crown is a tooth-shaped cap that helps restore a tooth that has become decayed, broken, or weak. According to the Cleveland Clinic, they can be made of metal, porcelain fused to metal (PFM), porcelain, or ceramic.

Root canal treatments are designed to eliminate bacteria from the infected root canal, which prevents additional infections.

More than 41,000 root canals are performed in the US every day, according to the American Association of Endodontists.

But if these procedures can’t save the tooth, you may have to remove it entirely and replace it with an implant.

Chewing ice

Chewing ice is a common habit, but Dr Saad said it could be a sign of some medical issues.

“ASMR can be addictive, but you don’t have to chew ice,” she said. “If you want to chew ice, that’s called pizza and it could be a sign that you’re low on iron.”

Pica is a condition where a person has the urge to chew non-food items such as ice, paint chips and rocks.

It most commonly affects young children, pregnant women or people with certain conditions such as autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disabilities.

Pica can also be a sign of iron-deficiency anemia, which occurs when the body doesn’t have enough iron to make hemoglobin, a substance in red blood cells that helps them carry oxygen around the body.

Common symptoms of iron deficiency anemia, according to the Cleveland Clinic, include fatigue, chills, shortness of breath, weakness, chest pain, dizziness, bruising and headaches.

Picking ice can also wear down the enamel and lead to cracks.