Many people only give their eating habits more than a passing thought when they want to lose weight. However, the way you eat, and the type of food you eat, potentially impact on the health of your teeth as well. You have an upcoming dental appointment to discuss an several small cracks which have appeared in your front tooth. Consider these reasons about why your eating mannerisms are hurting your teeth.

Too big to chew

The gooey cheeseburger you bought to eat looks so fantastic you need to take an extra big first bite just to savour the taste fully. But, the size of the bite is one source of jaw and teeth pain. You need to stretch your mouth to get it around the burger to start with. Then, your jaw needs your teeth to put extra pressure on all the food in your mouth to chew it up small enough to swallow.

If you must have that supersized treat, there are a couple of ways you can enjoy it without damaging your teeth and jaw:

1. try to flatten it with the palm of your hand, so your mouth and jaw don't have to extend fully to get it in your mouth
2. make a conscious effort to take smaller bites which require less effort to chew through

Too hard to chew

The other issue affecting your dental health is the types of food that you eat. While your teeth are certainly tough, they're not diamond-hard tough. Certain types of food lead to dental damage over time. Chips and cracks in the teeth occur when you try to eat foods which are too hard for the enamel. Examples of these bad dental food choices include:

• using teeth as a nutcracker to extract favourite nuts and seeds
• chewing ice can damage existing restoration work in your teeth, and it causes jaw pain and small chips at the end of your teeth
• hard candies like boiled lollies can chip teeth when you bite down on them

When you notice small cracks in your teeth, it is time to talk to a dentist about what can be done to prevent tooth loss and to cover up the damage. If left untreated, dental cracks and chips can get larger and cause parts of the tooth to fall away. Broken teeth can be covered with a crown to prevent tooth loss, while veneers attached to the front of a damaged tooth cover small cracks. Your dentist has more advice about making your teeth look perfect again.