Your diet plays a large part in your physical health — including your mouth. Eating excessive amounts of certain foods can lead to cavities, gum disease, tooth decay, and even chipped teeth.
Make sure you’re careful about your consumption of the following foods.
Hard Candy
Hard candy combines the worst enemies of your teeth: sugar and hardness. As you may know, sugar provides food for bacteria. Bacteria consume the sugar and produce acid to rot your teeth.
Then, there’s the hardness. Crunchy candies can possibly chip your teeth if you eat them too much.
Soda
Soda has plenty of sugar.
But what about diet or sugar-free soda?
These have their own acids, which will skip the bacteria and lead directly to possible weakened enamel and tooth decay.
Sports Drinks
Many people think that sports drinks are healthy choices. After all, athletes drink them!
Although sports drinks contain electrolytes, they also tend to have lots of sugar in them. This sugar is helpful to elite athletes who need to replenish themselves, but again, the sugar will harm your teeth.
Alcohol
Some think alcohol is bad for teeth because of the sugar found in most alcoholic drinks.
And yes, the sugar in certain cocktails isn’t great for the enamel.
But the alcohol itself reduces saliva flow and causes dry mouth. Saliva helps break down foods and wash away debris. Thus, dry mouth — a lack of saliva — can lead to tooth decay and even gum disease.
Ice
Ice might be refreshing and fun to chew on — especially in the summer. However, the cold of teeth, combined with the hardness, can cause microscopic cracks in your enamel. Over time, these can lead to larger problems.
Drink your water in liquid form, but go ahead and throw some ice in it!
Citrus Fruits
Oranges, mangos, tangerines, and other citrus fruits may be delicious, but they have high levels of citric acid in them. Citric acid can weaken enamel, cause canker sores, and worsen existing sores.
Sugary Coffee and Tea
Coffee and tea are generally fine for your teeth, although they contain acids and can cause staining. Brushing your teeth while taking your coffee black or your tea plain, as well as drinking plenty of water, can keep the staining at bay.
But once you add sugar and syrup, things change. All that sugar can cause damage to your teeth over time.
Sticky Foods
Sticky foods — such as dried fruits — can stick to your teeth for a longer time than other foods, increasing the chances of plaque buildup on your teeth.
Potato Chips
Potato chips are so fun and easy to snack on. And they might seem harmless to your teeth. The problem is, all the starches in potato chips easily get stuck in your teeth, and can be a pain to get out.
Make sure you moderate your intake of all these foods. Whether or not you eat them, make sure you visit a dentist like Absolute Smile every six months. We’ll clean out any spots you missed and ensure your teeth and mouth are happy and healthy. Contact us today for your free consultation!
