Lets talk about biting your nails, and why it is bad for you. Did you know that nail biting (technically called Onychophagia) can be harmful to your teeth and overall oral health? Not many people know the extent to which this bad habit can impact your beautiful teeth.

Nail Biting’s Impact

Let’s take a closer look at how your nail biting habit can cause damage to your teeth.

Cleanliness: You touch a lot of different surfaces with your hands throughout a given day. Nail biting transfers those bacteria and dirt that has collected under your nails to your mouth and stomach. Even if you wash and sanitize your hands regularly, bacteria will still enter your system. This bacteria can cause damages to your teeth and even lead to illness or stomach irritation.

Besides this, if you are breaking the skin around your nails as you bite them, you can actually transfer bacteria from your mouth to your fingers resulting in painful infections.

Stress: Nail biting can place a lot of extra and unwanted stress on your teeth. This pressure can actually cause them to shift and move from their natural placement in your mouth. This can cause soreness and even lead to the potential for orthodontic treatments in the future.

Wearing Your Teeth Down: Over time, nail biting can actually wear down your teeth. This can impact the enamel and strength of your teeth. Worse yet, continuous nail biting can actually cause teeth to chip or crack. Fillings and porcelain crowns and veneers can also break due to nail biting.

Money, Money, Money: Since nail biting can lead to significant oral health and teeth damages, many people will have to invest more money and time on their dental care over their lifetime. The Academy of General Dentistry estimates that a nail biter will spend up to 4000$ more on dental care over their lifetime than a non-nail biter. Wouldn’t you rather spend that money on anything else, rather than nail biting?

Did you know that almost 50% of children between 10 and 18 bite their nails? Think about how much damage nail biting can do over 8 years. And while studies show that many people stop by the age of 30, nail biting can damage your oral health significantly during that time period.

Want to know some tips to stop biting your nails? We will discuss that in a future post…