Many people suffer from different chewing habits… Whether it be nails or ice, keep reading to find out how to stop bad chewing habits once and for all.
First, why should you stop? Well, many chewing habits involve chewing parts of yourself such as cheeks, lips, or fingers… This can cause open sores that are very susceptible to infections and bacteria. In the case of ice chewing, the hardness of ice puts you at risk for cracks and chips in your teeth. This can cause permanent damage and may make certain invasive dental procedures necessary. Below are the top five bad chewing habits and how to stop them.
Top Bad Chewing Habits and How to Stop Them
- Nails. Biting your nails can result in sharp pieces getting caught in your gums, or being swallowed and scratching your throat. You can stop this chewing habit by keeping your nails cut short. You can also use a nail biting inhibitor solution to make your nails taste bad.
- Ice. Craving ice can be a sign of an iron deficiency, so the first thing to do is make an appointment with your doctor to check for that. In the meantime, try drinking cold drinks without ice, using straws, and replacing ice with crunchy veggies such as carrots or celery.
- Lips and/or Cheeks. Open wounds inside your mouth can become easily infected by bacteria and food particles. Some things to help stop this bad chewing habit are: chewing gum, moisturizing lip balm, and lip exfoliation.
- Finger skin and/or cuticles. Putting your fingers in your mouth is one of the easiest ways to catch sicknesses and diseases… Biting the skin around them leaves them even more prone to infections as well. To stop this bad chewing habit, use a good quality cuticle cream to keep the skin from drying out, cover them with bandaids, and try to keep them busy.
Some things you can do to stop any bad chewing habit include:
Getting support from friends and family
Identifying and dealing with triggers in a healthy way
Talking to your dentist and/or doctor about it
Always remember to keep up with proper dental hygiene on your own, and make regular dental cleaning appointments.