What should I do if food gets stuck in my teeth? What are the dangers of food stuck in my teeth? It is best to use dental floss to floss your teeth

Everyone has had food stuck in their teeth: the enoki mushrooms in the hot pot, the green chopped green onions or leek leaves, the tough beef fibers, these stubborn "troublemakers" stay between the lips and teeth and refuse to give in, which always makes people feel uncomfortable. At this time, you may habitually pick your teeth with a toothpick. Although this can remove the residual food between the teeth and make people feel comfortable, do you know how to pick your teeth scientifically? Oral experts remind you that if you develop an unscientific habit of picking your teeth, it will affect your oral health.

How do gaps between teeth occur ?

The reporter learned from the dental departments of many hospitals that the most vulnerable part of the teeth is the back molars responsible for chewing, accounting for 50%, followed by the wisdom teeth at the end of the mouth and the diseased teeth that have been damaged, each accounting for 20%, and the front teeth responsible for biting only account for 10%. Lin Xuebin, director of the outpatient department of Huiqiang Dental Hospital and a practicing physician, told reporters that the roots of our teeth are fixed by the alveolar bones, and the alveolar bones are wrapped with a layer of gums, which make the teeth closely arranged one by one. If you look at your teeth in the mirror and study your teeth, you will find that the occlusal surface of the upper and lower teeth is not flat, and there are grooves and slopes on it, which are quite ups and downs, which makes our teeth sharper and food breaks when bitten. At the same time, they have another purpose - food overflow channel, which is to let the bitten food go out along this "groove" and not stay near the teeth.

Children and the elderly who like to grind their teeth. The occlusal surface of the teeth becomes flatter and flatter, and the teeth become less sharp, so it takes more effort to cut food. The thrust between the upper and lower teeth is much greater. Even if your teeth are not loose, they will be pushed out of a gap and food will be stuck in. On the other hand, the groove becomes flat, and there is no food overflow channel. The chewed food is retained near the teeth and is not easy to be discharged. If you bite hard, the food will be pressed into the gap. In addition, wisdom teeth are also the easiest teeth to be stuck, because most people's wisdom teeth do not grow straight. Other teeth grow vertically from bottom to top, but wisdom teeth often grow horizontally from back to front, so a wedge-shaped groove appears between it and the front teeth, and whatever you eat is stuck.

There are many dangers of getting food stuck in your teeth

Many people think that food stuck in teeth is just uncomfortable, but in fact it has many harmful effects. The most direct one is that it will hurt after getting food stuck in your teeth. After a long time, you will not want to eat with the stuck teeth, which will gradually lead to unilateral chewing and even eating disorders.

Secondly, food stuck in your teeth can also cause bad breath . Food stuck in your teeth is not easy to remove. Over time, these food residues begin to ferment, producing a large number of harmful bacteria and emitting odor. These bacteria will slowly corrode your teeth, and the root surface of the tooth where the food is stuck and the adjacent surfaces of the two teeth will slowly decay. About half of the problems of food stuck in your teeth will eventually cause tooth decay, and severe cases will also cause pulpitis, apical periodontitis, etc.

Third, food stuck in teeth can also cause periodontal disease . When food is stuck in the gaps between teeth, you feel pain, which is actually mechanical damage to the gums, and in severe cases, it can cause minor lacerations. The toxins produced by food decay can also stimulate gum inflammation and tooth bleeding, slowly causing the gum atrophy, alveolar bone absorption, and loose teeth we mentioned above - these are all manifestations of periodontal disease, and ultimately lead to the need to extract the teeth. Many periodontal diseases cannot be cured for a long time because each time food is stuck in the teeth, the damage is aggravated.

How to use dental floss correctly

Food stuck in teeth can be cured, it is best to use dental floss

Many people think that food stuck in teeth is not a serious disease, but they worry that it is "incurable" and there is nothing they can do except flossing their teeth. But Dr. Lin Xuebin tells us that all food stuck in teeth can be cured.

One treatment for food stuck in teeth is filling. If there are gaps between teeth, whether they are natural or caused by decay, they can be filled with special materials, just like ordinary fillings, which is safe and does not affect the appearance.

Another way is to adjust the bite. If there seems to be no gap between the two adjacent teeth, but food is still stuck in the teeth, you need to adjust the bite relationship so that when you eat, there will be no gap between the upper and lower teeth due to the force of pushing each other.

In fact, most people will not brush 30% to 40% of their teeth thoroughly even if they brush their teeth carefully, especially those with irregular teeth. Because the teeth are crowded and overlapped, it is difficult to clean these teeth with ordinary brushing. If you can correctly master the use of dental floss and toothpicks, you can make up for this deficiency.

If toothpicks are used improperly, they will cause gingivitis, gingival atrophy, increased interdental space and lead to periodontal disease. Toothpicks are best used when there are spaces between teeth. If the gingival papilla is normal, toothpicks are limited to use in the gingival sulcus. Do not press the toothpick hard into the interdental papilla area, because this will cause gaps to form between teeth where there are no gaps, making it easier for food to get stuck. Using a toothpick to pick it out will become a vicious cycle over time, increasing the space between teeth and atrophying the gingival papilla, which will not only cause periodontal disease but also affect appearance and function.

Compared with toothpicks, dental floss is an ideal tooth cleaning tool. Most dental floss is flat and should not be too thick or too thin. It is used to remove food debris in the gaps between teeth and soft plaque on the tooth surface that is difficult to reach with a toothbrush.