I often remember the ladies that bite or chew their nails under the guise of manicure and “hip” and sit at the back of the class making noise. It’s quite funny to remember but such actions have their dental implications. The habit of biting or chewing on your nail is known to be a very difficult habit to break and that’s the reason why those senior babes back in secondary school often have chipped a tooth or complain in the silence of tooth sensitivity. Please don’t get me wrong guys also have similar issues but its commoner amongst females.
Here are a few downsides of that unending bad habit you may have namely;
A chipped tooth is definitely the biggest reason to not bite your nails. The repeated flexing of your teeth’s enamel occurs when you bite your nails and can cause the enamel to fracture or chip.
However, nail biting can cause other oral problems but please note that not all effects would occur in everyone at the same time but the watch word is “prevention”
Gingivitis: The Journal of American dental association has published case report articles (volume 126 issues 7 July 1995 pages 1019-1021) that strongly state the correlation of gingival swelling and finger nail biting. For more information click the link https://doi.org/10.14219/jada.archive.1995.0278
Diastema: A gap between your two front teeth. If the nail-biting habit begins when the child is very young, it has been reported to cause a gap between teeth. The gentle action of the nail constantly coming in-between their teeth could gradually move the tooth or teeth in either direction and thereby cause a gap in their teeth.
TMJ Issues: Patients who bite their nails may think it’s just a harmless habit, but it could be causing significant oral health problems, such as damaged teeth and temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders.
Studies haven’t perfectly shown a correlation between nail biting, root weakness and tooth loss but theories are being peddled around that’s increasingly becoming possible.