{"id":143,"date":"2025-11-17T21:55:13","date_gmt":"2025-11-17T21:55:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.amburgeydental.com\/blog\/?p=143"},"modified":"2025-11-17T21:55:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T21:55:13","slug":"shouldnt-use-toothpicks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.amburgeydental.com\/blog\/2025\/11\/17\/shouldnt-use-toothpicks\/","title":{"rendered":"Why You Really Shouldn\u2019t Use Toothpicks on Your Smile"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-medium\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.amburgeydental.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/image-300x200.png\" alt=\"Woman using a toothpick to get food out from between her teeth\" class=\"wp-image-144\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.amburgeydental.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/image-300x200.png 300w, https:\/\/www.amburgeydental.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/image.png 578w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>Toothpicks are thin, pointy, and made from a soft wood \u2013 so that makes them the perfect tools for getting food out from between your teeth, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Wrong! In fact, your dentist would strongly recommend <em>against <\/em>using a toothpick on your smile. These seemingly convenient splinters can cause serious damage or even lead to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amburgeydental.com\/emergency-dentistry.html\">dental emergency.<\/a> Here\u2019s why you\u2019re better off relying on alternative tools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Dangers of Using Toothpicks for Your Teeth<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Since toothpicks are pretty easy to snap in half, they probably don\u2019t seem very threatening, especially when you consider the fact that your teeth are the strongest substance in your body. Danger, though, isn\u2019t always about raw strength. When you stick a toothpick between your teeth, you risk:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Injuring your gums<\/strong> \u2013 if your grip slips or you get jostled, you could accidentally cut your soft oral tissue.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Damaging dental restorations<\/strong> \u2013 toothpicks can scrape bonding off your teeth, loosen crowns, or widen the gap between the restoration and a neighboring pearly white.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Splintering the wood<\/strong> \u2013 as previously mentioned, toothpicks are fragile, and if one breaks while you\u2019re using it, it could get stuck between your teeth.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Making irritation worse<\/strong> \u2013 pushing against food trapped in your smile could shove debris deeper into your gumline, causing more discomfort.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Safer, Dentist-Approved Solutions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If toothpicks are such a problem, what should you do instead? After all, it\u2019s also not a good idea to leave food particles and other debris between your teeth. Here\u2019s what your dentist would recommend:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Use your tongue to wiggle the debris.<\/strong> This can often loosen the trapped object and pull it free.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Take some dental floss<\/strong> and carefully glide it back and forth between your teeth until the debris comes out.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If there\u2019s one available, <strong>use a water flosser.<\/strong> Sometimes the force behind a stream of water is better at dislodging debris than traditional threaded floss.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>With some work, you should be able to safely remove most things that become stuck between your teeth. However, in the event stubborn debris <em>refuses <\/em>to come out, you can rightly consider the situation to be a dental emergency. Call your emergency dentist, and they\u2019ll take care of you quickly so you can go about the rest of your day in peace!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">About the Author<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amburgeydental.com\/emergency-dentistry.html\">Dr. Steven E. Amburgey<\/a> has been practicing dentistry for over 15 years. He\u2019s pretty much seen it all, and if you need help getting debris out from between your teeth, Dr. Amburgey won\u2019t judge. He\u2019ll simply provide the prompt and effective care you need and make sure your oral health is in good shape! To <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amburgeydental.com\/contact.html\">contact his office<\/a> for an emergency dental appointment, call 276-258-5568.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Toothpicks are thin, pointy, and made from a soft wood \u2013 so that makes them the perfect tools for getting food out from between your teeth, right? Wrong! In fact, your dentist would strongly recommend against using a toothpick on your smile. These seemingly convenient splinters can cause serious damage or even lead to a [&hellip;]<\/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":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Why You Shouldn&#039;t Use Toothpicks | Amburgey Dental<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Toothpicks might seem like a convenient way to get food out from between your teeth, but they can do more harm than good!\" \/>\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.amburgeydental.com\/blog\/2025\/11\/17\/shouldnt-use-toothpicks\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why You Shouldn&#039;t Use Toothpicks | Amburgey Dental\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Toothpicks might seem like a convenient way to get food out from between your teeth, but they can do more harm than good!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.amburgeydental.com\/blog\/2025\/11\/17\/shouldnt-use-toothpicks\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Amburgey Dental Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-11-17T21:55:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.amburgeydental.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/image-300x200.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"amburgeydental\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"amburgeydental\" \/>\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.amburgeydental.com\/blog\/2025\/11\/17\/shouldnt-use-toothpicks\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.amburgeydental.com\/blog\/2025\/11\/17\/shouldnt-use-toothpicks\/\",\"name\":\"Why You Shouldn't Use Toothpicks | Amburgey Dental\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.amburgeydental.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.amburgeydental.com\/blog\/2025\/11\/17\/shouldnt-use-toothpicks\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.amburgeydental.com\/blog\/2025\/11\/17\/shouldnt-use-toothpicks\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.amburgeydental.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/image-300x200.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-17T21:55:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-17T21:55:13+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.amburgeydental.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/47db39c258affea963fd7e2340abd456\"},\"description\":\"Toothpicks might seem like a convenient way to get food out from between your teeth, but they can do more harm than good!\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.amburgeydental.com\/blog\/2025\/11\/17\/shouldnt-use-toothpicks\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.amburgeydental.com\/blog\/2025\/11\/17\/shouldnt-use-toothpicks\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.amburgeydental.com\/blog\/2025\/11\/17\/shouldnt-use-toothpicks\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.amburgeydental.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/image.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.amburgeydental.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/image.png\",\"width\":578,\"height\":385},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.amburgeydental.com\/blog\/2025\/11\/17\/shouldnt-use-toothpicks\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.amburgeydental.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Why You Really Shouldn\u2019t Use Toothpicks on Your Smile\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.amburgeydental.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.amburgeydental.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Amburgey Dental Blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.amburgeydental.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.amburgeydental.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/47db39c258affea963fd7e2340abd456\",\"name\":\"amburgeydental\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.amburgeydental.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0213ff58159ad8b613cf761815656046?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0213ff58159ad8b613cf761815656046?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"amburgeydental\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.amburgeydental.com\/blog\/author\/amburgeydental\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Why You Shouldn't Use Toothpicks | Amburgey Dental","description":"Toothpicks might seem like a convenient way to get food out from between your teeth, but they can do more harm than good!","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.amburgeydental.com\/blog\/2025\/11\/17\/shouldnt-use-toothpicks\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Why You Shouldn't Use Toothpicks | Amburgey Dental","og_description":"Toothpicks might seem like a convenient way to get food out from between your teeth, but they can do more harm than good!","og_url":"https:\/\/www.amburgeydental.com\/blog\/2025\/11\/17\/shouldnt-use-toothpicks\/","og_site_name":"Amburgey Dental Blog","article_published_time":"2025-11-17T21:55:13+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.amburgeydental.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/image-300x200.png"}],"author":"amburgeydental","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"amburgeydental","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.amburgeydental.com\/blog\/2025\/11\/17\/shouldnt-use-toothpicks\/","url":"https:\/\/www.amburgeydental.com\/blog\/2025\/11\/17\/shouldnt-use-toothpicks\/","name":"Why You Shouldn't Use Toothpicks | Amburgey Dental","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.amburgeydental.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.amburgeydental.com\/blog\/2025\/11\/17\/shouldnt-use-toothpicks\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.amburgeydental.com\/blog\/2025\/11\/17\/shouldnt-use-toothpicks\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.amburgeydental.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/image-300x200.png","datePublished":"2025-11-17T21:55:13+00:00","dateModified":"2025-11-17T21:55:13+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.amburgeydental.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/47db39c258affea963fd7e2340abd456"},"description":"Toothpicks might seem like a convenient way to get food out from between your teeth, but they can do more harm than good!","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.amburgeydental.com\/blog\/2025\/11\/17\/shouldnt-use-toothpicks\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.amburgeydental.com\/blog\/2025\/11\/17\/shouldnt-use-toothpicks\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.amburgeydental.com\/blog\/2025\/11\/17\/shouldnt-use-toothpicks\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.amburgeydental.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/image.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.amburgeydental.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/image.png","width":578,"height":385},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.amburgeydental.com\/blog\/2025\/11\/17\/shouldnt-use-toothpicks\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.amburgeydental.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Why You Really Shouldn\u2019t Use Toothpicks on Your Smile"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.amburgeydental.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.amburgeydental.com\/blog\/","name":"Amburgey Dental Blog","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.amburgeydental.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.amburgeydental.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/47db39c258affea963fd7e2340abd456","name":"amburgeydental","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.amburgeydental.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0213ff58159ad8b613cf761815656046?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0213ff58159ad8b613cf761815656046?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"amburgeydental"},"url":"https:\/\/www.amburgeydental.com\/blog\/author\/amburgeydental\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.amburgeydental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.amburgeydental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.amburgeydental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amburgeydental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amburgeydental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=143"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.amburgeydental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":145,"href":"https:\/\/www.amburgeydental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143\/revisions\/145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.amburgeydental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amburgeydental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amburgeydental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}