Eating a well-balanced and nutritious diet contributes to healthy teeth and gums. The foods you eat can affect both your smile and the ability to continue using your teeth to chew foods throughout your life. You should avoid some foods entirely or only in moderation to maintain optimal oral health. Here’s a list of five food items for you to consider avoiding due to their damaging effect on your teeth.
Learn more about the five foods that are bad for your teeth and book an appointment with Trident General Dentistry today!
Ice
One of the most destructive oral habits is ice chewing. Biting ice, just like chewing on hard foods or non-food items such as fingernails, can cause several problems, such as:
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Worn enamel. Enamel is the hardest substance in your body but habitually chewing on ice wears it down. Once teeth lose the protection of enamel, they become sensitive and more prone to tooth decay.
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Damaged fillings. Most dental filling materials do not tolerate prolonged freezing temperatures well. Ice causes them to expand and need more frequent replacement. The hardness of ice can also cause fillings to break or fall out.
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Cracked teeth. Chewing on ice will typically cause one or more cracked teeth for most people. Usually, ice causes microscopic fractures in your enamel that eventually expand and cause pain. Dental restorations can save some cracked teeth. However, severely fractured teeth often require removal.
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Tooth sensitivity. Chewing on cold, hard ice irritates the nerves inside your teeth to make them more sensitive to hot and cold foods.
Soft Drinks
Most soft drinks include a significant amount of the number one cause of tooth decay, sugar. The sugar in sodas causes the bacteria in your mouth to form harmful acids that remove the minerals in tooth enamel and start creating a dental cavity. Every mouthful of soda brings another sugary attack that brings you closer to the destructive effect of tooth decay.
Sugar isn’t the only harmful ingredient in soft drinks. Even unsweetened beverages contain acids that soften your enamel. This erosion of your enamel can increase the risk of tooth decay and cause a darkening of your teeth.
Sports Drinks
Americans spend more than $10 billion each year on sports drinks. Sports drinks began on the playing field but now have found a place in homes and restaurants as a mealtime beverage. Many people choose these fruit-flavored drinks assuming that they are making a healthier choice. But these popular drinks are detrimental to your oral health.
Sports drinks have the same sugary and acidic effects as sodas. As a result, sports drinks can cause more harm to teeth than some sodas due to their higher sugar and acid content. Higher consumption by some people thinking they are only replenishing electrolytes lost during sports participation may compound this problem.
Sticky Sweets
Sticky candies and other sweets cling to your teeth especially between your teeth. This keeps sugar in contact with your enamel longer and increases the chance of enamel demineralization. In addition, sticky sweets pose a more significant problem because they resist cleansing from your saliva once they attach to your tooth surface.
A less well-known damaging ingredient in candy is its high acid content. Most candy contains several acids. For example, some of the most popular sour candy has up to eight different acids that can help start a dental cavity.
Popcorn
Popcorn is a favorite snack for many people because it is low in calories and generally considered healthy food. However, popcorn poses several problems for the health of your teeth, such as:
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It creates lactic acid in your mouth, which erodes tooth enamel.
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It is easy to bite down on an unpopped kernel and crack or chip a tooth.
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The hulls are notorious for lodging between your teeth and gums. A hull trapped here can cause an irritated gum, and if not removed, can create a gum infection.
Schedule an Appointment
It is important to be aware and avoid foods that are bad for your teeth. Call us today and schedule an appointment with Trident General Dentistry for a comprehensive dental examination and teeth cleaning to help keep your teeth whiter and your smiles brighter.