Sometimes the tooth fairy leaves us with the short end of the stick. If you're missing a tooth due to trauma, decay, medication, or hypodontia (meaning, one or two of your permanent teeth never arrived), then you know exactly what we mean...
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Dental Trauma
Stop biting your nails! You’ve heard that from grandma before, but not only was she trying to keep you from putting your dirty fingernails in your mouth, she may have also been trying to save your teeth! But was she correct? Here are some of the things that can affect your teeth that you may not have even thought about.
Your teeth go through a lot. Like any machine, wear and tear needs to be considered. Imagine the stress that chewing muscles alone (for decades!) put on your teeth! Generally, we put anywhere between 16 and 34 lbs of force on our teeth when chewing our food. Some people can apply up to 160 lbs of force (1). Imagine then how much force we apply when grinding or clenching. Studies have recorded forces nearing 275 lbs with a single clench. Could you imagine having to offer a warranty for this machine? How in the world do our teeth withstand these forces without failing? The answer: sometimes they don’t…