The toothpick is a wooden accessory that has been used for many years to remove pieces of food from the middle of the teeth, avoiding the accumulation of bacteria and the development of cavities.
However, its use may not be as beneficial as expected and may even be responsible for the appearance of problems in the mouth, especially infections, gingivitis or gingival retraction, for example.
So the best option is to always use the brush to clean the teeth or, if you are away from home, use the dental floss to remove the food from the spaces between the teeth. The toothpick should only be used in the latter case when there is no other option available.
Why not use the toothpick?
Although it helps to easily remove the pieces of food that lie between the teeth, the toothpick also has several disadvantages such as:
1. Remove the protective layer of the tooth
Because it is a hard object, and is used forcefully against the teeth, the toothpick can cause erosion of the tooth enamel, which is the outermost layer and helps protect the tooth against bacteria and cavities.
Although this erosion is very low, when used very frequently, the toothpick can cause cracks in the enamel, which increase over time and allow bacteria to enter.
2. Increases the risk of gum infections
The fine tip of the toothpick is sharp enough to easily puncture the gums and cause a sore. This wound, besides causing some pain and discomfort, also ends up being a gateway of bacteria to the body. Thus, the greater the number of wounds and the frequency with which they appear, the greater the risk of having gingivitis.
3. It increases the spaces between the teeth
Most people use the toothpick without much care, pushing it hard between the spaces of the teeth to better clean the food that has been accumulating. However, this movement can cause the teeth to move away slightly, especially if done several times a day, functioning as a dental appliance that is constantly pushing the teeth but in the opposite direction.
4. Causes tooth decay
In people who have a receding gingiva, the teeth may become more visible at the base, and may even expose the root of the tooth. When this happens, it is easy to get with the toothpick in that region of the tooth, which ends up being more fragile and that can break or suffer micro-fractures due to the action of the toothpick.
When the root is affected, the tooth becomes less stable and therefore, in addition to causing some pain, there is also a risk of the tooth falling, since it is not well attached to the gingiva.
5. Stimulates bacterial plaque growth
While toothpicks may seem to help clean teeth and remove bacteria, often what happens is that the toothpick removes only a part of the dirt, pushing the rest into a corner between the teeth. This causes later, when using the brush, it is more difficult to eliminate the dirt, that ends up accumulating bacteria and contributing to the growth of bacterial plaque and development of cavities.
