Maybe you have heard the saying “You are what you eat” so you need to know that one of the basics of oral health is eating the right foods and avoiding foods that are not healthy for the teeth. What you will read here in this article is to know about beverages, foods, and other eating habits that can harm both children’s and adults’ teeth. Without any more explanations, on to the 8 harmful foods:
Soda, the first and the worst enemy of the teeth
Soda, energy drinks, and other beverages containing high sugar and additives contribute to tooth decay significantly. So, I think we have the right to put soda on our first unhealthy foods and drinks lists for dental health.
By making the mouth acidic, it increases plaque formation and you know what is next, enamel erosion. A dry mouth is also a harmful result of drinking soda, which is another tooth decay factor.
Last tip of these unhealthy endless lists of drinking soda: dark fizzy soda leave spots on the teeth by damaging the natural color of the teeth. Don’t ever brush your teeth if you have drunk soda because you are helping soda in destroying the enamel on the teeth. Rinse your mouth and half an hour later then brush your teeth.
Coffee with sugar (or any other drinks with sugar)
Naturally, coffee and tea are healthy drinks since they contain enough antioxidants and caffeine to keep you healthy and lively throughout your day.
If you are too much attracted by sugary coffee, wait please, because you are on the path of changing the color of your teeth and more likely, tooth decay. Therefore, sorry to announce that coffee with sugar is on the bad list of drinks that damage our precious teeth.
There is another way not to take sugar in your coffee. Instead of sugar, options like milk, cream, or xylitol (the name is a little intimidating) are good substitutes if you want to have healthy teeth.
Also, avoid serving your children coffee. Adolescents shouldn’t drink a lot of coffee to keep on practicing good health.
Citrus fruits and juice are good, but…
Citrus fruits, such as limes, lemons, oranges, and grapefruits have an amazing taste both as juice and fruits let alone the amount of vitamin c in these fruits.
Eating citrus fruits can improve the immune system of our body, but these fruits and juice contain a lot of acid, which can be harmful to our teeth. For this reason, these fruits are added to the tooth-unfriendly list.
It doesn’t mean that we should avoid the fruit juice or citruce fruits, which we can lose necessary vitamins if we do, but it is required that we wash our mouth and after an hour brush our teeth.
Importantly, these fruits shouldn’t be served between meals by the children because tooth decay risks are problems children (those lovely children with poor oral hygiene) face later. Parents can provide these fruits at the meal.
Candies are always there to make troubles
No wonder candies are harmful to dental health. These are sweet and bacteria crave sugar in the candies. Again by eating well on sugar, bacteria will produce acid, causing tooth decay.
We might as well give this piece of advice that sour candy is much worse in speeding up tooth decay because of the acidity it contains.
You are in love with candy and a bit worried? Sugar-free chewing gums (look for those that have xylitol) can be an appropriate substitute.
Xylitol is similar to sugar in its chemical structure and that’s enough to confuse bacteria. When bacteria feed on that, they can’t digest that and, as a result, it kills bacteria.
Dried fruits role in damaging the teeth
If we can call them even foods, which are not, dried fruits are tempting as snacks, but they are categorized in our harmful lists for the health of our teeth.
Dried fruits are nutritious, healthy, and boost energy and should never be skipped, but sometimes these dried fruits can cause some problems for teeth.
Not only are they sweet, but also dried fruits are sticky. The particles of dried fruits can get between the gap in the teeth, leaving some sugar behind, which is a great risk for tooth decay and swollen gums.
Looks like you can’t get away from dried fruits, OK, but you should rinse your mouth and brush your teeth with appropriate toothpaste or eat fresh fruits instead.
Potato chips are also not a good choice for healthy teeth
Potatoes are one of those vegetables that have a plethora of benefits for our health.
It can provide the energy we need in our daily life. Potato chips, but, have detrimental effects on our teeth. Why?
Since potato chips are full of starch and these chips transform into sugar when in the mouth. Sugar-loving bacteria appear again through the leftover particles. These bacteria start to feed on the chips, causing an increase in the produced acid. Destroying the enamel of the teeth, tooth decay, and swollen gums are the results of this unnecessary amount of acid.
Chewing on ice? Wait a minute!
Ice can’t be called the enemy of the teeth, but as a solid-form object, chewing on it is certainly not a good idea. It has the least advantage that you might think of. Damages to the enamel of the teeth and even emergency problems are possible:
- Fractured, chipped teeth
- Severe sensitivity in the teeth
- Extreme pains in the teeth
Looking for a little enjoyment? Put the ice into your non-alcoholic, sugar-free drinks and enjoy your moment.
Alcohol is another dental health enemy
We all know alcohol is not healthy for our body. The list of disadvantages of alcoholic drinks goes on and on. We can name some of these as alcohol addiction, poor dietary habits, chronic pancreatitis, alcohol-related liver disease, cancer, and finally poor dental and oral health.
Heavy drinkers most often feel dry mouth. Low saliva flow and thus dry mouth are contributing factors in possible tooth decay and damage to the structure of the teeth.
Cut down on alcoholic drinks and sometimes try to use fluoridated mouthwash to rinse your mouth and help the moisturizing effects in the mouth.
Alcohol also increases the risks of mouth cancers and throat like esophageal and laryngeal cancers.
Smoking and alcohol drinking are destructive against the teeth
Smoking and alcoholic drinks can develop these cancers (we mentioned above) rapidly and damage the teeth easily. Alcohol combined with chemicals in tobacco can have irreversible impacts on cells in the DNA.
To ban or not
This is true that some of these foods and fruits can cause damage to the structure of our teeth, but having a healthy choice of foods and opting for fresh fruits shouldn’t be skipped in our diets.
We need to keep a balance in our eating habits, and make sure we regularly clean our teeth.
Oral hygiene and healthy eating can bring joyous life with them.
