These 11 Disturbing Facts Will Turn You Off From Nail Biting for Good
1. GERMS. Enough said.

Fingertips host many types of bacteria, fungus and yeast, including a germ under the nail called Staphylococcus aureus, which can lead to skin infections, including boils and abscesses.
2. The more you suck and chew, the worse the bacteria.

It was in 2007 that Turkish scientists performed a test on 59 people to see if their nail biting caused a transportation of bacteria to the mouth. What they found was that 76 percent of the participants tested positive for diarrhea and vomiting bacteria like Escherichia coli. In comparison, 26.5 percent of non-biters did as well.
3. It can cause dental damage.

4. You might grind your molars.

One of the reasons people bite their nails is out of nervousness. If your one of these people, you might be likely to also grind your teeth at night. “Those who bite their teeth are often stressed,” explained Dr Adam Roberts, who is a senior lecturer at UCL’s department of microbial diseases, “so may have other factors that affect their teeth such as grinding.”
Furthermore, grinding could lead to dental chipping and even tooth loss!5. Braces and biting can result in some serious damage to the teeth.

Dr Ansa Akram, who is a clinical lecturer in orthodontics at the University of Bristol said that brace wearers who chew their nails can cause the body's own cells to eat away at themselves, resulting in the dissolving of tooth structure.
6. Nail biting can cause gum trauma.

Your gums can experience trauma if you choose to chomp down on your nails. One case study discussed in a report from Dr Carlene B. Krejci noted that a kid who had gum swelling under one of his teeth was due to years of nail biting. Six fingernail fragments were found under his tooth.
7. It can cause bad breath.

The same report noted that nail biters are likely to have bad breath known as halitosis. All those extra germs in your mouth are clearly not helping.
8. Your fingertips can experience pus.

If you nail bite, you probably pick at the skin around the nails, which can result in having acute infective paronychia as a result of Staphylococcus aureus bacteria making its way into open sores. So unless you want fingernail herpes, you better stop chomping.
9. Nail biting can cause oral STIs.

10. Nail varnish is poison.
Many polishes contain formaldehyde, which is used to embalm dead bodies. A Yale study led by Dr David Katz discovered that, when taking swabs from under students' nails, that those wearing varnish had the least amount of bacteria growth, which means that the more you chew the more poison you put into your body.
11. You might even lose your nails for good.

Nail biting on the reg can damage nail beds, eventually leading to irreversible shortening of nails. Want stumps for nails? Go ahead and bite then!
Are you a nail biter? Did these facts turn you off from the bad habit for good?
Source: Buzzfeed
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