So a very popular thing to do when you finish your soft drink of choice is to crunch through the leftover ice at the bottom. Maybe you are dieting, so you eat and suck on ice cubes. When you are really hungry, you start just chewing through them. It seems harmless, especially since even the hospital sometimes will give you some ice chips before surgery.

It Is Just Simply Frozen Water So It’s Okay, Right?

Wrong, those ice chips can be frozen, solid as a rock, and what most people don’t realize is the cold temperature of the ice can cause brittleness of the teeth. The ice cubes can cause small fractures. Those fractures become a haven for bacteria that may not be cleaned even with brushing regularly. You can sometimes even see cracks in the mirror. You look back at your molars and there are very small black fine lines of bacteria that have dug in and become a cavity.

Why Do People Feel Compelled to Chew Ice?

There is a medical term for people who love or compulsively eat ice. It’s called, “Pagophagia.” Compulsive ice eating is looked at by the medical field as a form of anemia, or iron deficiency.

If you have been chewing ice and haven’t been to the dentist for a while, we would be happy to go over your teeth and check and see if there is any damage to them the ice. If there is, we have options to help restore your teeth. We will also take the time to talk with you about options available to kick the chewing ice habit. Oral care through a professional is the only way to address the damage done from chewing ice. Reach out and give us a call and we will fit you into our schedule as soon as we can.