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Diagnoses

Factitious habits

About this diagnosis

Diagnoses are associated with common findings which are used to prescribe appropriate treatment.

Alternate terms: Facticial habits; Parafunctional habits.

Habitual use of the teeth for purposes other than chewing food is known as a "factitious habit" (or a "parafunction habit"). Examples include biting fingernails, trimming fishing line, chewing ice or popcorn kernels, and resting the front teeth on sewing needles, bobby pins or nails. These habits cause chipping or cracking of the teeth, which can have minor or severe consequences (Figure 1 and Figure 2). Factitious habits have also been associated with certain psychological disorders, and there are many documented cases in the literature in which trauma to the gingiva and other oral soft tissues resulted.

Factitial habits: chipped teeth caused by chewing paper clips and pen caps

Figure 1: Chipping of the teeth caused by chewing on paper clips, pen caps and other rigid objects.

Virgin (unfilled) tooth fractured to bone level by a popcorn kernel

Figure 2: A habit of chewing popcorn kernels finally caught up to this patient. Note that the fractured tooth had no decay and had never been filled.