Keep a Check on What You Chew
Washing hands before and after every meal is a healthy practice. Similarly, regularly brushing your teeth, taking a daily bath, keeping a check on what you eat and consume and many more of such habits are, but still where lies the flaw as we get prone to diseases?
It’s the small negligible habits which keeps us away from staying healthy. People do not even notice when they practice these small acts which might bring them closer to the diseases. These habits get in our daily routine and in no time we become inseparable from such unhygienic characteristics. Our habits should always be good because they become a part of our daily lifestyle and define our personality.
One World News in alignment with Dr. Kanika Paltani, Practitioner at Odon Dental Care, brings to you a list of chewing habits which one should strictly avoid to keep one-self hygienic and germ-free:
Biting Nails
It’s a very common habit with people falling for it without even realizing. When you bite your nails, cuticle (the soft skin beneath the nail) breaks which gets more susceptible to microbial and fungal infections. When you take your finger in the mouth it gets from your mouth to your stomach causing stomach infections as well. The most common technique to get rid of this habit is to apply a bitter tasting nail polish which will restrict you every time you think of inserting a finger in your mouth. Doctors’ advice it’s the habit which severely affects the teeth as the broken nail might reach to the pulp inside your tooth causing further diseases.
Chewing gum
Dr. Kanika says chewing gum is not at all a healthy habit! Gum products contain artificial ingredients and preservatives that contribute to poor dental health as well as numerous diseases. Chewing gum causes aberration, tooth cavity which causes further diseases. Artificial sweeteners and sugar-free foods have been linked with tooth erosion.The two main artificial sweeteners are sucralose and aspartame. Sucralose is carcinogenic, toxic to the liver, known to cause birth defects and also damaging the immune system.
Pen cap
While putting the pen to the mouth, you at times suck the ink out and it stains your teeth and gums besides the harm the chemicals in it do. Chewing pen is not that unhygienic but the ink in the pen is. You may stop this habit if you be a little more careful as chewing pen does not make you look professional and presentable. Kanika advices, to stop this practice as it creates a gap between your teeth which gives you an unpleasing look.
Necktie:
Even if your tie is washed and clean the gap in the cloth attracts dirt & dust. When you take it in your mouth the germs sticking to the tie also enter the body moreover, the chemical detergents and soaps used in washing the tie are also equally harmful. This might make you sick and infectious to diseases. Although, this is not a common habit but people more often than not fall for it.
Handkerchief:
People, especially children have this irritating habit. They take the handkerchief’s edge in their mouth and keep chewing it for hours. Handkerchief is used mostly to clean the dirt & filth on the face or hands. The germs and bacteria stuck to it are very unhealthy. Parents should keep a check on their children and strictly prohibit them from continuing this behavior.
Hair:
Hair can be home to all sorts of germs and bacteria picked up from the atmosphere; it also carries the residue of hairsprays or shampoos. Hair can also harbor nits & lice, fungal infections and other toxins released from the body. Dr. Kanika states that chewing of hair may lead to hair eating habits; hair eating may cause the formation of lump in the stomach as hair is a non-digestible substance and this may eventually lead to stomach pain and other digestive problems.
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