{"id":86,"date":"2025-05-09T19:40:24","date_gmt":"2025-05-09T19:40:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.palmleafdental.com\/blog\/?p=86"},"modified":"2025-06-20T19:40:48","modified_gmt":"2025-06-20T19:40:48","slug":"flossing-fibs-and-brushing-blunders-oral-health-faux-pas-your-dentist-notices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.palmleafdental.com\/blog\/2025\/05\/09\/flossing-fibs-and-brushing-blunders-oral-health-faux-pas-your-dentist-notices\/","title":{"rendered":"Flossing Fibs and Brushing Blunders: Dental Faux Pas Your Dentist Definitely Notices"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"Patient<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Have you ever told a little white lie about your smile to avoid side-eye from your dentist? Well, it didn\u2019t work, but they\u2019re not judging you. The truth is, dentists are trained to spot even the tiniest clues about your oral health<\/a>, and your teeth often spill the beans before you ever open your mouth! Continue reading to find five common dental fibs and faux pas your dentist will catch every time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

1. \u201cI Floss Every Day\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you only floss the night before your appointment, your gums will give you away. Puffy, tender, or bleeding gums are telltale signs that flossing is more of a \u201csometimes\u201d thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you want gums that will impress your dentist, try to floss once a day without fail. Your gums will get stronger, your teeth cleaner, and your breath fresher!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Brushing Too Hard<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

More pressure doesn\u2019t equal better results. Brushing aggressively can wear down enamel and cause gum recession, which your dentist can spot in seconds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Use a soft-bristled brush and let the bristles do the work. Gentle circles, not elbow grease, are the way to go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Skipping Dental Visits<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

You might think you\u2019re hiding your six-year dental visit gap like an FBI super spy, but buildup, deep tartar, and untreated issues don\u2019t lie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To erase the evidence and improve your oral health, schedule a checkup every six months. Regular visits mean smaller problems, lower costs, and a brighter smile!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Nail-Biting, Pen-Chewing, and Ice Crunching<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Your dentist can tell if you’re regularly biting down on things you shouldn\u2019t. Small chips, worn edges, and jaw stress give it all away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you want to kick these subtly destructive habits, try sugar-free gum, stress toys, or bittering agents on your nails to redirect your energy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. \u201cI Only Use Whitening Every Now and Then\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Too many whitening products can wear down enamel and cause sensitivity. Your dentist can tell if your bright smile is bordering on over-bleached with a few simple tests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using cheap whitening repeatedly might seem less expensive than professional treatment, but it comes with other costs. Stick to dentist-approved methods and don\u2019t overdo it. Your natural enamel has limits!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your dentist isn\u2019t judging you\u2014they just want to help you keep your teeth healthy and strong. Spotting these common missteps is part of their job, but fixing them is up to you. With a few small changes and an open mind, your next visit could be the best one yet!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About the Practice<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

At Palm Leaf Dental, Dr. Eric Broe<\/a> and Dr. Nami<\/a> have seen it all. From forgotten flossing to coffee-stained smiles. Our team isn\u2019t here to judge\u2014we want to help you feel confident and cared for at every visit. That\u2019s why we focus on creating a relaxed, supportive environment where better habits begin with trust. Call (904) 373-1300 to schedule an appointment with us or visit our website<\/a> to explore other services.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Have you ever told a little white lie about your smile to avoid side-eye from your dentist? Well, it didn\u2019t work, but they\u2019re not judging you. The truth is, dentists are trained to spot even the tiniest clues about your oral health, and your teeth often spill the beans before you ever open your mouth! […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-86","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n5 Dental Health Fibs Your Dentist Notices | Palm Leaf Dental<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"If you\u2019ve ever tried to hide the state of your oral health from your dentist, just know that they know, and they\u2019ve seen it all before.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.palmleafdental.com\/blog\/2025\/05\/09\/flossing-fibs-and-brushing-blunders-oral-health-faux-pas-your-dentist-notices\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"5 Dental Health Fibs Your Dentist Notices | Palm Leaf Dental\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If you\u2019ve ever tried to hide the state of your oral health from your dentist, just know that they know, and they\u2019ve seen it all before.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.palmleafdental.com\/blog\/2025\/05\/09\/flossing-fibs-and-brushing-blunders-oral-health-faux-pas-your-dentist-notices\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Palm Leaf Dental Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-09T19:40:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-06-20T19:40:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.palmleafdental.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/AdobeStock_282535270-1.jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"palmleafdental\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"palmleafdental\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.palmleafdental.com\/blog\/2025\/05\/09\/flossing-fibs-and-brushing-blunders-oral-health-faux-pas-your-dentist-notices\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.palmleafdental.com\/blog\/2025\/05\/09\/flossing-fibs-and-brushing-blunders-oral-health-faux-pas-your-dentist-notices\/\",\"name\":\"5 Dental Health Fibs Your Dentist Notices | Palm Leaf Dental\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.palmleafdental.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.palmleafdental.com\/blog\/2025\/05\/09\/flossing-fibs-and-brushing-blunders-oral-health-faux-pas-your-dentist-notices\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.palmleafdental.com\/blog\/2025\/05\/09\/flossing-fibs-and-brushing-blunders-oral-health-faux-pas-your-dentist-notices\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.palmleafdental.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/AdobeStock_282535270-1.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-09T19:40:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-20T19:40:48+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.palmleafdental.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/a13b3b8b1676e015d7664404f1920642\"},\"description\":\"If you\u2019ve ever tried to hide the state of your oral health from your dentist, just know that they know, and they\u2019ve seen it all before.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.palmleafdental.com\/blog\/2025\/05\/09\/flossing-fibs-and-brushing-blunders-oral-health-faux-pas-your-dentist-notices\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.palmleafdental.com\/blog\/2025\/05\/09\/flossing-fibs-and-brushing-blunders-oral-health-faux-pas-your-dentist-notices\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.palmleafdental.com\/blog\/2025\/05\/09\/flossing-fibs-and-brushing-blunders-oral-health-faux-pas-your-dentist-notices\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.palmleafdental.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/AdobeStock_282535270-1.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.palmleafdental.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/AdobeStock_282535270-1.jpeg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":533},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.palmleafdental.com\/blog\/2025\/05\/09\/flossing-fibs-and-brushing-blunders-oral-health-faux-pas-your-dentist-notices\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.palmleafdental.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Flossing Fibs and Brushing Blunders: Dental Faux Pas Your Dentist Definitely Notices\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.palmleafdental.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.palmleafdental.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Palm Leaf Dental Blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.palmleafdental.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.palmleafdental.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/a13b3b8b1676e015d7664404f1920642\",\"name\":\"palmleafdental\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.palmleafdental.com\/blog\/author\/palmleafdental\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"5 Dental Health Fibs Your Dentist Notices | Palm Leaf Dental","description":"If you\u2019ve ever tried to hide the state of your oral health from your dentist, just know that they know, and they\u2019ve seen it all before.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.palmleafdental.com\/blog\/2025\/05\/09\/flossing-fibs-and-brushing-blunders-oral-health-faux-pas-your-dentist-notices\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"5 Dental Health Fibs Your Dentist Notices | Palm Leaf Dental","og_description":"If you\u2019ve ever tried to hide the state of your oral health from your dentist, just know that they know, and they\u2019ve seen it all before.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.palmleafdental.com\/blog\/2025\/05\/09\/flossing-fibs-and-brushing-blunders-oral-health-faux-pas-your-dentist-notices\/","og_site_name":"Palm Leaf Dental Blog","article_published_time":"2025-05-09T19:40:24+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-06-20T19:40:48+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.palmleafdental.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/AdobeStock_282535270-1.jpeg"}],"author":"palmleafdental","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"palmleafdental","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.palmleafdental.com\/blog\/2025\/05\/09\/flossing-fibs-and-brushing-blunders-oral-health-faux-pas-your-dentist-notices\/","url":"https:\/\/www.palmleafdental.com\/blog\/2025\/05\/09\/flossing-fibs-and-brushing-blunders-oral-health-faux-pas-your-dentist-notices\/","name":"5 Dental Health Fibs Your Dentist Notices | Palm Leaf Dental","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.palmleafdental.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.palmleafdental.com\/blog\/2025\/05\/09\/flossing-fibs-and-brushing-blunders-oral-health-faux-pas-your-dentist-notices\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.palmleafdental.com\/blog\/2025\/05\/09\/flossing-fibs-and-brushing-blunders-oral-health-faux-pas-your-dentist-notices\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.palmleafdental.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/AdobeStock_282535270-1.jpeg","datePublished":"2025-05-09T19:40:24+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-20T19:40:48+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.palmleafdental.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/a13b3b8b1676e015d7664404f1920642"},"description":"If you\u2019ve ever tried to hide the state of your oral health from your dentist, just know that they know, and they\u2019ve seen it all before.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.palmleafdental.com\/blog\/2025\/05\/09\/flossing-fibs-and-brushing-blunders-oral-health-faux-pas-your-dentist-notices\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.palmleafdental.com\/blog\/2025\/05\/09\/flossing-fibs-and-brushing-blunders-oral-health-faux-pas-your-dentist-notices\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.palmleafdental.com\/blog\/2025\/05\/09\/flossing-fibs-and-brushing-blunders-oral-health-faux-pas-your-dentist-notices\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.palmleafdental.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/AdobeStock_282535270-1.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.palmleafdental.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/AdobeStock_282535270-1.jpeg","width":800,"height":533},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.palmleafdental.com\/blog\/2025\/05\/09\/flossing-fibs-and-brushing-blunders-oral-health-faux-pas-your-dentist-notices\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.palmleafdental.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Flossing Fibs and Brushing Blunders: Dental Faux Pas Your Dentist Definitely Notices"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.palmleafdental.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.palmleafdental.com\/blog\/","name":"Palm Leaf Dental Blog","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.palmleafdental.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.palmleafdental.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/a13b3b8b1676e015d7664404f1920642","name":"palmleafdental","url":"https:\/\/www.palmleafdental.com\/blog\/author\/palmleafdental\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.palmleafdental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.palmleafdental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.palmleafdental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.palmleafdental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.palmleafdental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.palmleafdental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":89,"href":"https:\/\/www.palmleafdental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86\/revisions\/89"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.palmleafdental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.palmleafdental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.palmleafdental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}