11. Unprotected Contact Sports
You might like to toss the pig skin around or maybe you’d rather strap on a pair of skates and play shinny. Regardless of which you prefer, football or hockey, there’s one essential piece of equipment you’re forgetting—your protective mouth guard! This protected piece of molded plastic shields your upper teeth from hard contact that might chip, damage, or knock out a tooth.
![missing teeth]()
12. Smoking
Cigarettes, chewing tobacco, and cigars ruin your teeth, period. Not only will smoking turn your dazzling whites a disguising shade of yellowish-brown, it will gradually rot away at your mouth and leave you prone to gum disease and cancer of the mouth and tongue.
![smoking]()
13. Cough Drops
A few times a year you might need to pop a few cough drops as a medicinal remedy to soothe a nasty cough or sore throat. However, getting into the habit of popping lozenges is bad medicine for your teeth and gums. Reason being, most over-the-counter cough candies are packed with sugar to make the medicinal ingredients taste good, so you’ll end up with tooth decay and cavities.
![cough candy]()
14. Opening Bottles
My dad used to open bottles of beer and pop with his teeth. He thought he was cool and at just 20-years old he might have appeared just that. However, by 30 he’d chipped and cracked his teeth so badly that he needed a partial plate. And trust me; no 30-year-old looks cool with false teeth. So take heed kids, opening bottle caps or anything else with your teeth might seem cool at the time, but a handy pocket bottle cap opener or a pair of scissors will keep your smile looking great at 50.