There is just something about chewing ice that is soothing and satisfying. But the dentists at Drs Emery & Scuro DMD PC don’t recommend it. With more than 35 years of preventive dental care experience treating patients in their Rochester, NY dental office, the family dentists know best; eating ice really does hurt your teeth.

Here’s why:

• Chewing ice puts unnecessary pressure on your teeth: It wears down the enamel and can even chip or fracture pieces of enamel off of your teeth. This causes your teeth to weaken and increases the sensitivity of your teeth to hot and cold foods.
• Chewing ice can hurt your gums: A sharp piece of ice might pierce your gums. Try chewing gum instead.

• Eating ice damages dental work: If the dentists at Drs Emery & Scuro DMD PC have performed cosmetic dentistry in your mouth, such as porcelain veneers, fillings, or braces, chewing ice can damage the dental work. Not only is that painful, but it is also expensive for the dentists to fix.
• The hot/cold cycle is harmful: When you chew ice, you are constantly changing the temperature in your mouth from hot to cold. This can cause small cracks in the enamel. Also, if you have a filling, it will expand at a different rate than the tooth, which leads to the seal breaking down, ultimately shortening the life of your filling.

Although chewing ice might seem like a harmless habit, it could be an indication of a bigger problem, such as iron-deficiency anemia. It also could indicate a condition called pica, which causes people to chew on things that have no nutritional value, such as ice or rocks.

Although the expert dentists at Drs Emery & Scuro DMD PC can fix any problem caused by chewing on ice, they’d rather see you in their dental office for preventive dental care. For more information on the other services the dentists offer at Drs Emery & Scuro DMD PC, including orthodontics, dental implants, periodontics, laser dentistry, and teeth whitening, visit their website. To schedule an appointment at their Rochester, NY dental office, call (585) 247-7110.