While eating one or two carrots a day is good for you, eating a dozen carrots could turn your skin orange. Similarly, brushing your teeth gently is good for you, but brushing your teeth too hard could leave you with painful, sensitive teeth and a Jack-o-lantern smile.
What happens when you brush your teeth too hard?
Brushing your teeth too hard, especially with a medium- or hard-bristled toothbrush, will cause your gums to recede. That means the gums and bones in your mouth move away from your teeth, leaving the roots exposed. Although the roots of your teeth have a protective coating over them called cementum, it is not as hard or thick as enamel, the coating that covers the crown of your teeth. After many years of brushing your teeth too hard, the cementum over your root may wear away, leaving your root exposed and vulnerable.
How brushing your teeth too hard can cause loose teeth
In an ideal mouth, your gums fit snugly over the roots of your teeth, but when your gums recede from brushing your teeth too hard, the area between your gums and your teeth becomes an attractive gathering spot for sticky plaque. The bacteria in plaque could eventually eat away at the bones anchoring your teeth, causing your teeth to fall out, and you will have to spend a lot of time and money getting dental implants or dentures (or, worse, be one of those people who never smile in photos because you feel self-conscious about your gap-toothed smile).
Brushing your teeth too hard may cause sensitive teeth
Another hazard of receding gums caused by brushing your teeth too hard is that the nerves within the exposed roots can make your teeth very sensitive so that eating hot or cold foods will cause shooting pains. Simple pleasures like eating a bowl of cold ice cream or sipping hot soup may feel miserable, and even breathing in cold air can be painful.
My personal experience with brushing my teeth too hard
I have always enjoyed the process of brushing my teeth, mistakenly using this twice-daily ritual as a form of emotional therapy rather than a health prevention method to remove plaque from my teeth and stimulate my gums. Like many people, I would allow the stress of my day to flow through my arm and into my toothbrush-wielding hand, causing me to put far more pressure on my teeth and gums than they could endure. In effect, I was using my teeth and gums as a metaphorical punching bag.
During my last teeth cleaning session at my dentist’s office, I had to assure my skeptical dental hygienist that I was not using a medium or hard toothbrush. She believed me (I think) but persuaded me to purchase an electric toothbrush to prevent me from brushing my teeth too hard.
Fortunately, my dental hygienist has a device to measure gum recession (one of her instruments of torture), and being the competitive sort that I am, I’m hoping to improve my numbers at my next visit. Besides, I like cold ice cream and hot soup way too much to give them up–and I would much prefer to spend my old-age money on travel than dentures.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/2999806.stm
http://www.healthcentre.org.uk/dentistry/faqs-brushing-teeth-too-hard.html
http://www.adha.org/oralhealth/brushing.htm
Personal experience
