Scrolling through cute posts of puppies and kittens on social media could be bad for your teeth, dentists warn. Adorable images can trigger a condition called ‘cute aggressiveness’ which can cause people to grind and damage their teeth out of fluffy love frustration.
Behavioural boffins have noted that looking at sweet pictures and footage sparks a physical reaction in some people which could be dentally damaging. Also identified as aggressive love, the reaction is set-off by things that are deemed too delightful for words when cute images such as an animal or baby appears in a person’s social media feed.
Expert Dr Rizwan Mahmood from Rüh Dental said emotional reactions can be treacherous on pearly whites. Just this week, Ruh client and Love Island star Molly Mae admitted to damaging a tooth because she couldn't cope with the cuteness factor of her cats or her teddy - Ellie Bellie.
She said: “I’m my own worst enemy because whenever I look at the cats or I look at Ellie Bellie or I just talk to Tommy in a stupid baby voice, I do this thing where I grind my teeth and I bite down and my tooth literally came off last night …”
“It’s an instant physical response when humans see something cute like a fluffy kitten, puppy or rabbit which makes them react physically rather than verbally,” said Dr Mahmood.
“But by crunching and biting our jawline tightly, we risk cracking, chipping and breaking our teeth.
“It doesn’t necessarily take too much pressure to do the damage either, so if you are scrolling through cute footage on Instagram or TikTok, be mindful of your mouth!”
Dr Mahmood also warned anyone with cosmetic dentistry, runs the risk of pricey repairs.
“If you have porcelain veneers, for example, it could prove extremely expensive as they can crack under pressure,” he added. “If you see something cute, verbalise it instead of physically reacting to it. It could save you a lot of money, and toothache!”
If you’re prone to this condition, you may want to stop reading now as here are the top ten most-followed animal accounts on Instagram:
1. Jiff Pom | 9.5M followers
2. Nala Cat | 4.4M followers
3. Doug the Pug | 3.7M followers
4. Juniper & Friends | 2.9M followers
5. Grumpy Cat | 2.6M followers
6. Lil BUB | 2.5M followers
7. Shinjiro Ono | 2.4M followers
8. Venus the Two Face Cat | 2.2M
9. Tuna | 2M followers
10. Loki the Wolfdog | 1.8M followers
