As kids, we like to put different kinds of things inside our mouth: toys, crayons, bugs, or whatever. There’s a reason our parents forbade us from doing so. Bacteria and viruses can cause sores and infections that can affect our respiratory and gastrointestinal systems.
Not surprising as the mouth is a body opening that leads to the different systems in our body. We don’t need to even go into those. Just think about this: if you suffer from mouth infection you will have difficulty eating and talking. Therefore, you should be protective of your mouth and make sure it’s free from any form of infection.
Common mouth problems include:
– Sores, like cold sores and canker sores that develop inside the mouth. They can be painful making it hard to talk and eat.
– Virus infections (like herpes) or bacterial infections (like impetigo, epiglottitis, or an STD). Such infections can cause swelling of the tongue and throat, and sores on the lips.
– Splits and cracks are painful and usually caused by a lack of vitamin or dehydration. These are easy to cure.
The first step to ensuring your mouth health is choosing wisely what we put inside it. We’re not just talking about food, but objects that we sometimes absentmindedly chew on out of habit or stress. Here are some of them.
Keys and coins
When your hands are full, or lost in thought, you sometimes put your keys between your lips. Or you pick up a coin and do the same. Stop doing this; you don’t know the number of bacteria they accumulate and make you sick.
Pens or pen caps
We like biting on our pens when we’re too focused on work. But we don’t realize we are actually sucking the bacteria and germs on its surface. Worse, we end up with the ink left on our tongue and lips.
Ice cubes
We love to suck ice tubes when the weather is hot. That’s okay but biting and chewing it is bad. Biting on anything hard like ice cubes (or hard candy) causes an extra force on your jaw muscles that may cause fractures on your teeth. That will hurt so bad and you’ll have to run to your dentist for emergency treatment.
Bottle caps
Sure, it makes you look tough opening that beer or soda bottle using your mouth and teeth. When you get a fractures enamel and bacterial infection, you won’t look so tough anymore. When the bottles they are used on aren’t clean, the concentration of bacteria goes to the cap.
Soda
Do you know that sodas are highly acidic? The acid found on them is more dangerous than their sugar content. It can erode your enamel and the sugar can rot your teeth. The acid can also cause gastrointestinal problems and bloating.
Cigarettes and tobacco
No matter what experts say some just can’t give up smoking. The problem starts with bad breath and stained teeth, then it can develop into gum disease and then oral cancer. Not to mention the other damage smoking brings to your body, like lung cancer and emphysema.
Mouth infections are avoidable, but we neglect to take the necessary precautions. You can start by absolutely avoiding the things on this list, and of course following good oral hygiene.