It has always been said that you are what you eat when it comes to weight loss or gain, but the same saying will apply when it comes to your oral health. Many foods and drinks have been proven to cause serious, and various damages to your teeth and these include plaque and tooth cavities. When you eat sugary meals or snacks, the sugar from these foods or drinks causes bacteria to release harmful acids that attack the tooth enamel. When your enamel if affected, cavities can develop, and they cause pain in the form of a toothache, tooth swellings, chewing difficulties and in extreme cases turn into tartar. You can prevent some of these problems by avoiding the following foods besides flossing regularly and brushing your teeth at least two times a day.
1. White Bread
It is hard to believe that bread can be harmful to your teeth, but one thing that you didn’t know is that the saliva you produce when chewing bread breaks the starch into sugars that cause harm to your teeth. This is why when you chew bread, some gummy substances stick in between your teeth and they expose your teeth to a risk of developing cavities. Go for whole wheat products instead because they have less added sugars and therefore hard to break down into harmful sugars.
2. Carbonated Drinks
Carbonated drinks especially sodas catalyzes productions of acids by plaque, and this is a great risk to your enamel. In this case, when you take large quantities of these sodas a day, you will be coating your teeth with a dangerous acid and also end up discoloring your teeth. Karl Jobst Grove OK advises people to take less of these drinks. While brushing your teeth right after taking your carbonated soda sounds like the best remedy, avoid it completely because it will only hasten the decay process.
3. Candies
This is a little bit more obvious because most kids get the warning about taking too many candies when they are still young. While all candies are bad for your dental health, sour candies are more acidic than other candies, which means that they are tougher on your teeth. Karl Jobst Grove OK says that candies tend to stick longer to your teeth because they are chewy. They, therefore, expose you to tooth decay. It is better to chew chocolates when you are craving for sweets than taking sour candies since it is easier to rinse chocolate than the sticky candies.
4. Potato Chips
Potato chips are some of those satisfying snacks that you wouldn’t wish to go without. However, these snacks are starches and will also get broken into sugars when you chew them. They will stick in between your teeth, making it easy for the plague to release bacteria that causes tooth cavities. Always floss your mouth to remove all trapped particles after enjoying your potato chips.
5. Citrus-Rich Fruits
While grapefruits, lemons and oranges are great and healthy fruits, they also contain acid, which can erode your tooth enamel exposing it to decay and cavities. Squeezing a lemon in the water adds some acidity into it, and this is equally dangerous both to the teeth and mouth sores in case you have any. However, since these fruits have their good side such as being rich in Vitamin C, you should take them in moderation and rinse your mouth with clean water afterwards.
