09 Jul Some Food Damages Teeth
Some food damages teeth. The threat can come from the ingredients or from the hard, crunchy texture. Here are a few of the most damaging foods and some substitutes.
Hard candies are bad for our teeth and for our gums. And hard candy comes in so many different forms. Consider even the mints handed out after a meal at a restaurant. It’s the both the sugar in hard candy—hard candy is practically entirely made of sugars, which can cause cavities, but also help aid the bacteria in our mouths to develop gum disease—and hardness of the candy. Bite into one and your tooth may crack or chip. A good alternative to hard candy is sugar free gum.
Some people have the habit of chewing on ice. But ice can damage your teeth. Chewing on any hard substance could cause a chip or a crack, could even damage the enamel (the protective outer coating your teeth).
One food you may not have considered to be hard on your teeth is citrus. Citrus eaten or drank in abundance can damage the enamel on your teeth. It’s the acid in the citrus that erodes your tooth enamel. Citrus is obviously good for your body in other ways, so it shouldn’t be omitted from your diet, but moderated. If you’re drinking lots of citrusy drinks, substitute a few for clean water. Clean water is healthy for our teeth and our body.
If you are a morning coffee drinker try to keep it to just drinking coffee. Coffee beans, aside from having certain staining properties on the surfaces of our teeth, are, in many ways, good for our bodies. But, go into a coffee bar like Starbucks and see the list of drinks infusing coffee and processed sugars. It’s become so prevalent that clerks at these places may look at you strangely when you just request plain coffee. Resist adding that extra sugar to your coffee in the morning.
Also, if you do consume foods that are packed with sugar—nobody’s perfect—make sure you brush your teeth after, if possible.
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