Is Using Your Teeth to Strip Electrical Wire Giving You Dental Problems?

If you're an electrician or do a lot of electrical work, then you probably strip the plastic coating off wires regularly. You need to remove this coating to get to the wires underneath so you can connect them. If you do this a lot, then you may have got into the habit of using your teeth to strip the plastic off wires. This may seem quicker and easier than digging out a pair of wire strippers. However, your dentist isn't so impressed. Why?

Your Teeth Aren't Wire Strippers

While you wouldn't necessarily use your teeth to bite down on something really hard, you may not think that using them to strip electrical wires is a problem. After all, all you're doing is biting off pieces of soft plastic.

However, the fact that your teeth are really strong and that plastic isn't that hard doesn't mean that this is a safe thing to do. This is partly down to repetition. Using your teeth to strip wire once may not do any harm; however, doing this repetitively over a long period of time can be damaging. Your teeth can only take so much.

Wire Stripping Can Damage Individual Teeth

Every time you use your teeth to strip plastic off a wire, you put pressure on them. Typically, you'll use the same tooth or teeth to do this. So, the pressure is concentrated on certain areas. The more you do this, the more likely you are to have problems. Your tooth or teeth may get abrasion problems from this targeted action. So, you may lose enamel, or you may even lose parts of a tooth. For example, you may end up with notches at the bottom of a tooth where stress makes part of the tooth break away.

How to Deal With Wire Stripping Dental Problems

The first thing you need to do here is to stop using your teeth to strip wires. Switch to using appropriate tools instead. This prevents any damage you do have from getting worse. Your dentist can assess your problem teeth and help you fix any damage. For example, if you've lost some enamel and some of your teeth have become sensitive, then they can help you manage the sensitivity. They may recommend that you have a fluoride layer painted on to some teeth to make them stronger and less sensitive.

If you've got a notch in a tooth, then your dentist may be able to even out the damage. They could, for example, use bonding or a veneer to rebuild or cover over the missing area.