Do you know the foods and drinks we consume play a vital part in oral health? This is because the foods you eat not only make you healthy, but they feed the bacteria that exist in the mouth. In your mouth there exist both healthy and unhealthy bacteria, and the unhealthy ones thrive in environments high in acids and sugar.
For you to have a healthy body, oral health is important. Doctors encourage us to eat a wide variety of foods and drinks which are healthy, but there are certain foods not good for your oral health. In our article below, I’m going to take you through some of the worst foods that ruin your teeth slowly.
Contents
1. Candy
Candy is sweet but very bad for your teeth. When you are used to eating candy, the bacteria in the mouth gets used to sugar and this will cause tooth decay. Sour candies are even the worst because they have a lot of acid.
The amount of acidity in sour candies accelerates tooth decay. Furthermore, candies are chewy, where they stick in your teeth for longer and cause decay. If you have a craving for something sweet, take a piece of chocolate that can be chewed quickly and wash it within seconds.
Still, you can try sugarless gums that contain xylitol sugar. Xylitol is a form of artificial sugar that is taken in by bacteria thinking it is real sugar, but they cannot digest it. In turn, the artificial sugar kills the bacteria which is a double win.
2. Soda Pop
Even if soda has the word diet on it’s can, we all know it doesn’t offer any health benefits. Drinking a lot of carbonated soda damages your teeth slowly, especially when you don’t brush immediately after drinking them. Carbonated soda help plaque produce more acid to attack the tooth enamel.
Taking soda every day coats your teeth in acid and it dries out your mouth, leading to less saliva production. You should also watch out for other sweetened beverages, such as energy drinks, lemonade, sports drinks, sweetened tea, or coffee which enhance tooth decay.
If you want to hydrate yourself, take water instead. Water is the most recommended dental-friendly beverage because it has no acid or sugar.
3. Dried Foods
Most individuals take dried fruits as healthy snacks. Yes, they are good, but very bad for your teeth. For instance, dried fruits such as raisins, prunes, figs, apricots, etc are sticky. They get stuck in the teeth and leave sugar that helps unhealthy bacteria to thrive.
Dried fruits are a good recipe for bad oral health as they increase your risk of gingivitis and tooth decay. If you enjoy dried fruits, always rinse your mouth to ensure there is no sugar in the mouth.
In addition, replace the dry fruits with fresh because they are not sticky and their sugar is easy to eliminate.
4. Coffee or Tea with Sugar
When coffee and tea beverages are taken in their natural form, they are good healthy beverage options. Coffee and tea contain caffeine and antioxidants that wake you up in the morning.
However, we all ruin the healthy antioxidants in this beverage by adding sugar. Sugar is one of the causes of tooth decay when it is taken frequently. These beverages become worse for people who sip them slowly.
It is always recommended you limit your coffee intake to one cup a day and slowly eliminate sugar from your beverage. You replace the sugar with a natural sweetener but always rinse afterward.
5. Alcohol
Currently, multiple articles and journals are trying to warn people about the dangers of alcohol. Not only does alcohol affect vital body organs, but it is bad for your teeth. Other than sugary foods and drinks, alcohol contains a lot of sugar.
Do you know that alcohol dries your mouth? Saliva is responsible for eliminating unhealthy bacteria, but when you take alcohol, it dehydrates your mouth. Mouth dehydration means full-body dehydration.
If it is a must you drink alcohol, drink one glass of water for every drink. This way, saliva production will be balanced plus it helps eliminate the sugar in the alcohol.
6. Bread
When you walk into a supermarket in the morning or the evening, most people are in the bread section buying bread which is very unhealthy. Any time you eat bread, saliva breaks down carbohydrates and converts them into sugar. As you continue chewing, there is a gummy paste-like substance formed and it gets stuck in the inner crevices of the teeth.
If you fail to brush your teeth immediately after eating bread, the sugary remnants cause a lot of damage to your teeth. Instead, rinse your mouth immediately after eating bread to lessen the blow.
7. Ice
Most people think that chewing ice is right because it doesn’t have any sugar, acid, or additive, but is very unhealthy. According to the American Health Organisation, it is not good to chew ice.
Chewing ice is not good because it destroys the enamel and it makes susceptible to dental problems, such as broken teeth, cracked teeth, chipped teeth, or loosened crowns. If you love chewing ice, it is time you stop that habit.
Instead, use ice to chill beverages or use it to ease injuries.
8. Potato Chips
Who doesn’t love potato chips? However, potato chips have a high starch concentration that becomes sugar. The sugar gets trapped in between the teeth and feeds bad bacteria in the plaque. This will accelerate your risk of gingivitis and tooth decay.
Furthermore, there are hard chips that can make the teeth chip and break. If you love potato chips, you can pair them with other healthy foods to neutralize the acid and lower the risk of tooth risk.
Bottom Line
In a nutshell, sugar and acid are not good for your teeth. In your mouth, there are healthy and unhealthy bacteria. To ensure your oral health is good, avoid eating sugary foods and drinks so that you can eliminate unhealthy bacteria in the mouth.
It will be beneficial if you consume foods that are rich in vitamins and minerals that stimulate saliva production, neutralizes acids, and repair tooth enamels.