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You’re biting into something delicious, and, Ouch! You bite into something you didn’t mean to—the inside of your tender cheek.

Painful moments like this happen every now and again. But if you find that more frequent cheek biting means that you’re extra-cautious when eating or speaking, if you wake up with sore cheeks in the morning, or if you catch yourself habitually chewing on your cheeks during the day, it’s time to visit our Middleton, WI office.

Causes of Cheek Biting

Many of us experience the occasional cheek chomp when we’re eating or talking. No fun! Besides the pain, a bite can cause broken skin, inflammation, a canker sore, or a mucous cyst. Luckily, the discomfort from these accidental bites generally resolves after a few days.

Sometimes, though, biting becomes a more frequent annoyance. Regular bites can be caused by several conditions, including:

• Sleep Bruxism

Bruxism is the medical term for tooth grinding. When sleepers unconsciously clench or grind their teeth as they slumber, it’s known as sleep bruxism. Sleep bruxism not only causes tooth damage, jaw problems, and facial pain—that nightly gnashing can mean bites to delicate cheek tissue.

• Problems with Dental Restorations

The placement of a crown, bridge, or implant can cause biting to occur more often if the alignment of your restoration with your other teeth isn’t ideal or has shifted, or if the restoration needs replacement.

• Wisdom Teeth

Most of us don’t have the room to welcome four new—and large—teeth. When wisdom teeth come in, they can lead to cheek bites, especially if they erupt leaning outward toward your cheeks.

• Orthodontic Misalignment

If you notice that you seem to be biting your cheek a lot when eating or speaking, it could be an orthodontic problem.  When your teeth or jaws don’t align properly, if your mouth is small, or if your teeth have shifted over time, your cheeks might feel the consequences.

Treatment Options

Why see Dr. Joel Hartjes and Dr. Jon Szewczyk? A one-time bite can be extremely uncomfortable, and might lead to inflammation or even a sore spot inside your mouth. Usually, both pain and sore spot fade in a short while, and saltwater rinses or oral gels can soothe your injured cheek tissue. Your dentist’s office can give you advice on treating minor bites.

But what about continuous biting? Regular biting injuries can lead to bigger problems. Tissue in the cheeks can thicken or erode. Scar tissue can build up inside the mouth. Ulcers and other sores can become larger and more painful.

If you’ve been biting your cheeks more often, Dr. Joel Hartjes and Dr. Jon Szewczyk can diagnose the cause and offer you treatment options depending on the reason for this frequent biting:

• Sleep Bruxism?

Dr. Joel Hartjes and Dr. Jon Szewczyk might suggest a nightguard to provide protection from the damaging effects of bruxism. Nightguards not only prevent further biting, they give your cheeks the chance to heal. We can custom fabricate a guard for the most comfortable and effective fit.

• Restoration Problems?

If regular cheek biting occurs after you’ve gotten a crown, a bridge, or an implant, visit our Middleton, WI office. This might be a problem that can be resolved with a bit of reshaping, whether removing a bit of the restoration or building up a spot. If a crown or other restoration has shifted or is failing, replacement might be in order.

• No Room for Wisdom Teeth?

Most of us don’t have room in our mouth to accommodate wisdom teeth, and extracting them is a common dental procedure. Wisdom teeth can be the source of many dental problems, including impaction, shifting teeth, and even damage to surrounding teeth. If you see signs that your wisdom teeth are starting to come in, talk to your dentist about your options.

• Orthodontic Problems?

Orthodontic treatment can improve tooth and bite alignment—and can eliminate those painful cheek bites if misalignment is what’s causing them. Modern orthodontic treatment offers patients of all ages more options than ever before, including traditional and lingual braces, clear aligners, and functional appliances.

Whatever the reason for painful cheek biting, you deserve to eat and speak and enjoy your day without constant “Ouch!” moments affecting your comfort and health. If these moments are happening all too often, visit Hartstone Dental for the answers to your biting problems.

Now that you’re entering the working world, or heading off to college, or pursuing any of the many adventures awaiting you in adult life, you’re ready to take on more adult responsibilities. And one of those responsibilities is making sure you maintain your dental health.  

Luckily, it’s not that hard! Successful adulting often means simply making small proactive choices which add up to big long-term benefits. So, let’s look at a few of the everyday habits of dentally successful adults.

Choose a Healthy Lifestyle

• Eat well.

Just like the rest of our bodies, our teeth and gums need a healthy diet to thrive. Sugar-fueled study sessions and energy drink-filled work hours should be the rare exception, not the norm. A diet rich in vitamins and minerals keeps gums healthy and enamel strong.

• Don’t use tobacco products. 

Cigarettes, cigars, pipe smoking, chewing tobacco—any form of tobacco products, especially combined with alcohol use, can greatly increase your chances of developing mouth and throat cancers.

• Talk to your doctor about the HPV vaccine.

HPV (human papillomavirus) can also cause mouth and throat cancers. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends the HPV vaccine for kids ages nine through 12. If you haven’t been vaccinated yet, talk to Dr. Joel Hartjes and Dr. Jon Szewczyk about the potential benefits of the HPV vaccine. 

Keep Up with Your Orthodontic Care

If you’ve spent several of your teen years in braces or aligners creating a beautiful, healthy smile, you don’t want to see all your hard work go to waste. Retainers are designed to make sure your teeth stay just where they belong for a lifetime. 

When retainers aren’t worn as directed, especially when braces or aligners first come off, the teeth can shift back to their old positions. Sometimes going back to your regular retainer schedule can fix any minor movement, but sometimes patients need to go back for repeat orthodontic treatment.

How to avoid orthodontic do-overs?

• • If you have a retainer, wear it as scheduled to maintain your alignment and healthy bite. 
  • Put your retainer in a case when you’re not wearing it. A bent or broken retainer won’t keep your teeth aligned properly and can damage delicate oral tissues!
  • If your retainer is damaged, see the dental team at Hartstone Dental in Middleton, WI ASAP for repair or replacement.

 Practice Good Oral Hygiene

• Brush at least twice a day, for two minutes each time. 

Plaque begins to build up within hours after your last brushing. Removing plaque morning and evening also removes the cavity-causing bacteria which live in plaque. These bacteria erode enamel and lead to cavities.

• Floss at least once a day. 

Flossing helps remove plaque from your gumline. When plaque accumulates over time, it becomes tartar, a substance so hard that you’ll need a dental professional to remove it. The bacteria in plaque and tartar irritate your gums, and this irritation is the beginning of gum disease. Early-stage gum disease (gingivitis) can often be reversed with better brushing and flossing habits—but, even better, help stop gum disease before it starts with daily flossing.

• See your dentist regularly. 

If you’ve had the same dentist since childhood, you’ve probably developed a great partnership, typically visiting your dentist twice each year for an exam and a professional cleaning. 

Make sure you make space in your busy adult life to keep your smile its healthy, sparkling best by continuing to schedule regular cleanings and exams. This is the best way to clean away any plaque or tartar you may have missed, and, most important, to catch any small problems before they become bigger ones. 

Not so difficult, right? In fact, you’ve probably adopted most of these healthy habits already. Take charge of your dental health now, make good habits a part of your daily routine, and you’ll be prepared to enjoy a lifetime of healthy, attractive, adult smiles!

This may come as a surprise, but brushing your teeth right after a meal can be one of the worst things you can do for your healthy teeth. A toothbrush can be considered an assault weapon against your smile if used immediately after eating certain foods.

Enamel is like the tooth’s shield. It is a hard mineral exterior on each of your teeth. In reality, enamel is the hardest part of the human body—even stronger than bone! I like to regard it as a “super-structure.” But every superhero has a weakness, and enamel’s kryptonite is acid.

A healthy tooth lives in a mouth that has a proper pH balance. When that balance tips from alkaline to acidic, a harmful process called demineralization begins. Demineralization occurs when acids attack and soften the tooth surface. Pores and fissures form and harmful bacteria move in.

With each bite of food or drink, our mouth pH fluctuates. Highly acidic foods tip the balance of your mouth from a healthy alkaline to a dangerous acid. Here are some examples of those sources of acid: citrus fruits, soda, and sugary foods. There are certainly many others, but these are the most common.

So how does brushing your teeth immediately after a meal make this process even worse?

After eating highly acidic foods, your teeth are susceptible to damage. When you brush your teeth in this weakened state you are actually damaging your enamel. The abrasive bristles of the brush wear away the protective surface of the teeth. You should avoid brushing for at least an hour, or take other, simple preventive measures immediately following a meal.

First, rinse with or drink clear water. Then chew some sugarless gum. Both of these practices will produce saliva, restore a healthy pH level in your mouth, and coat your teeth with nourishing minerals. Out of all the sugarless gums available, the best of the best are those that list xylitol as the first ingredient. Another option is to consume cheese, milk, or another non-acidic food or drink to conclude your meal.

After you have given your mouth time to return to a healthy pH, feel free to brush your teeth. Just keep in mind that any time you eat acidic foods, you weaken your teeth. Make sure not to worsen the problem by brushing immediately after dining and damaging your teeth even more. Questions? Call us at Hartstone Dental.

A dental crown, otherwise known as a cap, covers an infected tooth and can vary in function, depending on the position of the tooth. Crowns cover all the visible parts of a tooth and vary in size, appearance, and functionality.

A crown can be used to protect a weak tooth from breaking, hold together an already broken or worn tooth, cover the tooth with a large filling or dental implant, hold a dental bridge in place, or support a cosmetic modification.

Several types of crowns are available, depending on the tooth to be treated. Stainless-steel crowns are used on permanent teeth, usually as temporary measures in children because they’re more cost-effective for baby teeth that naturally come out over time.

Metal crowns are another option that includes gold alloys, or base-metal alloys. Metal crowns are notable for their ability to withstand biting forces, rarely break or chip, and therefore offer the best results in terms of normal wear and tear.

Porcelain fused to metal crowns most closely resemble a normal tooth and are a good choice for front or back teeth. Other, less common types include all-resin, all-ceramic, all-porcelain, and zirconia crowns.

If you’re getting a crown, you can expect a few things during your visit with Dr. Joel Hartjes and Dr. Jon Szewczyk. Crown placement usually requires two appointments. The first entails preparation to get an impression of the tooth, shape it, and place a temporary crown. The impression is sent to a lab where a technician makes the crown to be fitted.

During the second appointment, the high-quality porcelain crown is placed on the problematic tooth.  

If you notice any signs of discomfort in your mouth, always let Dr. Joel Hartjes and Dr. Jon Szewczyk know by calling our Middleton, WI office. We will determine which type of crown is best for your tooth to give it the added strength it needs. Crowns can be very helpful for your oral health if you have any teeth that need extra support.