Getting braces can fix the way that your smile looks and it can correct the alignment of your bite, but if you're continuing to bite your nails while wearing them, you might be sabotaging yourself. Here are three reasons why this is one bad habit you should break while you're wearing your braces.
Tooth Damage
It's easy to think that since you're wearing braces, any alignment damage you do to your teeth will be corrected by the braces. While this might be true, it doesn't change the fact that you could be badly damaging your teeth.
Your teeth can be damaged just from biting your nails. Over time, abnormal wear and tear can develop on the edges of your teeth, gradually filing them down. This can lead to jagged or crooked edges on your teeth. Even if your teeth are perfectly straight after braces, this could impact the appearance of your smile.
Alters Shifting
Your orthodontist will ensure that you're getting the smile that you're looking for, but if you bite your nails, it might take more time. Braces aren't a steel trap that prevent any kind of movement. In reality, they're gradually pushing or pulling your teeth into a new alignment, but they don't prevent movement in other directions.
If you bite your nails, you may encourage your teeth to shift in a different direction or back the way that they came. If this happens, your treatment may take longer, as your dentist will need to account for these new changes and make adjustments to your braces accordingly.
Bacterial
Lastly, consider what you're introducing into your mouth when you bite your nails. Bacteria found on the hands, fingertips, and under the fingernails can be bad for your oral health at all times. However, when you're wearing braces, these bacteria can thrive on any plaque or food remnants left on or under the wires and brackets of your braces. In essence, you may be jump-starting tooth decay simply by biting your nails on a regular basis.
Biting one's nails can often lead to a crooked smile, so talk to your orthodontist if you need advice on how to stop engaging in this bad habit. Without help, you may find that your orthodontist services treatment takes longer or that you develop bad oral health problems while you have them. If you have a bad habit and can't seem to break it until you see your orthodontist again for help, at least make sure to thoroughly clean your hands before biting and brush your teeth afterward.
