The satisfaction after a good meal can evaporate quickly if you notice bits of food stuck between your teeth. The annoying feeling can distract you from your usual activities. However, lingering food particles in your mouth can also pose a danger to your oral health if you ignore the issue.
This may seem like a minor problem, but knowing what to do if food remains in your teeth can help you protect your smile. Read on to discover what trapped food in your smile can mean for your oral health.
Will Food in My Teeth Affect My Oral Health?
When most people think about food stuck in their teeth, they consider it an irritating foreign presence in the mouth. But your mouth may start to feel sore if the food stays there for some time. The trapped food applies pressure on the surrounding teeth, which will result in a chronic ache.
This pressure on the teeth may be a sign that the teeth are getting pushed out of their straight alignment. Preserve your beautiful, straight smile by addressing the issue in a timely fashion.
Lingering food in the mouth will have exposure to saliva and start to decay after a while. It can emit a foul odor as it does, giving you bad-smelling breath. Then the natural oral bacteria will produce more plaque, which will begin to erode your dental structure.
Weakening the tooth enamel in this way yields irreversible dental damage. Your teeth can then be more susceptible to forming cavities along with other oral health concerns. So do not ignore food stuck between your teeth.
How Do I Remove Food Stuck in My Teeth?
You can remove food trapped between your teeth on your own, but you should use dentist-recommended methods to do so. It may seem easy to dig the food out with your fingernails, but this is not a polite act to do in public. And fingers in the mouth can bring germs into your body as well as transfer bacteria to your hands.
Instead, you should try dental floss or a toothbrush to free the food stuck in your smile. Your oral hygiene routine is designed to scrub away residues from your mouth in a safe and effective manner. Floss, specifically, targets the areas between your teeth so that you can remove the bits of food without harming anywhere else in your mouth.
Can I Prevent Food Being Trapped in My Smile?
All of us may experience food stuck in our teeth at some point, especially when consuming pesky seeds or stringy pork. But if you struggle with this issue frequently, you might have a food trap.
This refers to a spacing issue in your teeth, which may develop for a number of reasons, meaning that food can easily become trapped in that specific spot. If the problem seems chronic, give your dentist a call. They can evaluate your dental structure and offer advice or treatment to stop it from continuing.