Not every food we eat is good for our pearly whites. Many foods contain substances that, in addition to affecting our gum health, create plaque, erode the enamel, and promote dental cavities. Plaque can cause a variety of dental problems for anyone. When you consume or drink different things, you certainly think about how it tastes as well as their nutritional value. However, to appreciate all those foods and drinks, you need to think about their impact on your oral health. Let's take a look at some of the foods that cause cavities.
Highly Acidic Foods
Acidic foods (those that have a low Ph ) can be particularly harmful to your teeth. Acids, whether found in foodstuff or produced from sugars by bacteria in your mouth, can destroy the tooth enamel, producing tooth cavities and decay. Weakened enamel can cause several issues, from tooth sensitivity to discoloration of the teeth.
Examples of highly acidic foods include lemons, tomatoes, pickles, coffee, and alcohol.
Sugary Foods
We're all aware that sugar is harmful to our teeth, although it's crucial to understand why. Cavities are tooth infections that are caused by acids, which are created by harmful bacteria that feed on sugars inside your mouth. The idea is that sugars inside the mouth are usually the first stage in the development of cavities.
Although it's nearly impossible to eliminate sugars from our diets, it's critical to try and limit sugar intake (particularly processed sugars) as often as possible. It is also important not to leave sugar inside your mouth for too long. Brushing and flossing your teeth after you have had your meals, or at the very least drinking, plenty of water after meals is very essential.
Examples of sugary foods include sugar, candies, soft drinks, sweetened cereal, desserts, dried fruit, and jams, among others
Foods that are sticky or chewy
Foods that tend to stick and remain stuck on or between your teeth for a prolonged period could be damaging whenever it comes to the health of your gums and teeth. The concern here is that this food debris provides bacteria with an abundant source of food, and their extended stay inside your mouth enables bacteria to generate far more acids than what they normally produce. It's critical to brush and also floss your teeth as soon as possible, and not let sticky foodstuff sit on your teeth or inside your mouth for hours.
Examples of sticky foods include caramel, toffee, taffy, chewing gum or bubble gum, candy bars, stick/gummy candy (like gummy bears or even candy bars that contain caramel), dried fruits, or fruit roll-ups.
Refined Carbohydrates and Starchy Foods
Refined carbohydrates are often shunned because of their numerous health risks. When you consume them, they are rapidly converted into sugars inside your mouth, causing the bad bacteria to produce acid.
While carbohydrates aren't as harmful as sugar, it's crucial to remember that the pre-digestive phase, which starts in the mouth with saliva enzymes, converts them to sugars almost instantly. These starchy foods often stick between the teeth, where the harmful bacteria will convert them to acids that erode your teeth.
Starchy foods include white bread, white rice, potato chips, pasta, among others.
Foods that Dry Out Your Mouth
Saliva is the best protection against dental health problems. Nature's most effective solution to care for your teeth is right at your disposal to keep your teeth healthy by removing plaque and restoring essential minerals to the teeth. Saliva helps to keep foods from sticking onto your teeth and can even aid in the prevention of dental decay, gum problems, as well as other oral illnesses. However, when the mouth becomes dry, the level of saliva inside your mouth drops, and it is unable to carry out its role effectively.
Examples of foods or drinks that can excessively dry out your mouth include certain medicines, alcohol, energy drinks, coffee.
Hard Foods
Enamel is exceptionally hard. It is, in fact, the hardest part of the human body. Nevertheless, even it can not cope with constant chewing on extremely hard foods. It is crucial to understand that you shouldn't chew anything that's excessively hard.
Some people have a bad habit of chewing on stuff such as unpopped popcorn, ice, and hard candies. For a majority of the cases, the teeth manage this difficult task, but you risk damaging the enamel or chipping off a portion of your teeth. So, pay your teeth a courtesy and hold back from chewing on hard objects.
Now that we've covered the basics, let's look at a few of the worst foods and beverages for your dental health.
However, remember that some of these foods and beverages listed below may have additional health benefits. Nonetheless, in this article, we'll focus on the impact they could have on your oral health. We do not recommend completely avoiding any of these meals and beverages from your meals. However, you should be conscious of the potentially detrimental effects they could have on your oral health as well as how to reduce the risk if you do consume them.
Soda
Nothing ought to be at the top of this list more than soda. We're all aware of how awful soda could be for our health in general, and our dental health is no exception. Plenty of research studies have found a connection between drinking soda and tooth decay.
The threat is twofold. To begin with, sodas have high acid levels, and the acidity in them can destroy your teeth much more than sugars by stripping minerals from the enamel. As a result, even sugar-free or diet sodas, which include phosphoric and citric acid, are also harmful to your teeth. Typical sugar-containing sodas, on the other hand, are much worse, since they pose the risk of giving a rich sugary feast for the harmful bacteria inside your mouth.
Sour Candy
Because sour candy is harmful to our teeth, it deserves to be mentioned. Sour candy has a higher concentration of acids in addition to a wider range of acids than other forms of candy. What's more, brushing right after you consume them won't fix the issue since brushing too early after consuming extremely acidic meals or drinks might destroy the enamel even more.
Potato Chips
Carbohydrate-rich or starchy foodstuffs have a proclivity for getting trapped in between the teeth. Unfortunately, as delicious as potato chips could be, the starch in them and their mushy texture cause them to stick between the teeth for a while. To dislodge the trapped particles, rinse your mouth with water then floss if possible.
White Bread
Once again, processed carbs are to blame. Whenever you eat white bread, the enzymes inside your saliva convert the starch into sugars. Now converted into a chewy substance, the bread then sticks in between the teeth. To reduce the risk of developing cavities after eating white bread, consider whole wheat alternatives instead.
Alcohol
We are aware that the major reason most of us come to work on Fridays is for Happy Hour. However, take into account that alcoholic drinks are harmful to your dental health. Alcohol can lead to dry mouth and dehydration. This lowers saliva production, which can lead to major issues including tooth cavities and gum disease with time. Drinking sugary cocktails adds the risk of drowning your teeth in sugars for an extended period.
Popcorn
Most of us enjoy popcorn while at the movies, but you should be aware that it could be harmful to your teeth. For starters, they can remain lodged between the teeth, allowing bacteria to grow. Unpopped kernels are also unpleasant because they are overly hard, causing serious damage to the enamel or worse could cause teeth to chip off.
Jelly and Peanut Butter
Usually, we wouldn't think of saying anything negative about a favorite breakfast spread for most people, but the high sugar level combined with the stickiness of the contents make jelly and peanut butter bad choices for your teeth and on the other hand perfect choice for germs inside the mouth.
Ice
Ice is composed of pure water, so then how harmful can it be to teeth? Not really, unless you choose to chew on it. Most people have this bad tendency, but for the protection of the teeth, kindly let ice chill your beverages but don't chew on them.
Vinegar
Vinegar is commonly found in sauces, salad dressings, pickles, and certain potato chips, and it is vital to remember that it could cause dental problems. People who eat vinegar-containing meals regularly have a higher likelihood of enamel erosion, according to research. It's an essential component of a great salad, but make sure you rinse your mouth using water after having meals with vinegar to avoid any potential issues.
Tomatoes
An unexpected item in this list for sure, but the issue your teeth could have with tomatoes is that they are acidic. Fortunately, if you have them as a part of your meal, the risk is reduced. So, just remember that acidic meals aren't generally good for your teeth, and you should drink water after having tomatoes to rinse your teeth and mouth off the acid.
Wine
Wine requires a special mention because, as we all know, it stains your teeth along with posing other dangers. Wine, as an alcoholic beverage, dries out your mouth and could make teeth sticky, increasing the formation of stains. Additionally, both white and red wines are high in acidity, which is also harmful to your teeth. Please remember that although red wine is more likely to discolor your teeth, white wines are acidic and could be much more damaging to the enamel.
Highly Pigmented Foods
Foods with a lot of pigments, such as beets, berries, and curries, can quickly stain your teeth. Some of these pigmented foods are quite healthy, so you can continue eating them. However, do not forget to rinse your mouth and teeth to avoid staining.
Coffee
It's obvious how badly coffee stains teeth. Coffee stains are some of the worst for the teeth because they're so resistant. Coffee also leaves your teeth sticky in addition to drying out your mouth, just like wine. It becomes even worse when you sweeten your coffee with sugar, as sugar is one of the worst things for your teeth.
As if that weren't bad already, coffee also has acid that breaks down your enamel. We do not expect you to give up your favorite coffee entirely, but to lessen the harm, drink lots of water after having your coffee and minimize sugar-based additives.
Citrus Fruits
Undoubtedly, these fruits are Vitamin C rich and have a long list of health advantages, but they're also high in acid, which could erode and damage your enamel. Fruits that are the most acidic in the citrus family include lemons and grapefruits, whereas orange is known to be the least acidic.
If you prefer squeezing lemons into your glass of water and sipping on it all day, you should reconsider doing that because continuous acidic exposure is harmful to the teeth. It would be better to consume or drink your lemons all at once, then drink lots of water to rinse the acid away.
Dried Fruits
Most people assume that dried foods are a healthy snack option, and there could be some truth to that. However, once it concerns oral health, dried fruits are a no-no. The biggest concern is that many dried fruits are quite sticky and loaded with sugar. They're loaded with natural sugars as well as non-soluble cellulose fibers, making them just as damaging for the teeth. Fresh fruits can be an excellent substitute for dried fruits.
Fruit Juices
Although they're not as harmful as other beverages described above, many fruit juices are acidic and have also been related to a higher risk of dental cavities. Naturally, natural fruit juices provide health benefits. You just have to be mindful of their acid content and use water to rinse your mouth after you have drunk any fruit juices.
Find a La Puente Dentist Near Me
At La Puente Advanced Dentistry, we want you to have the best dental health. Our patients are our top priority, and we take great pride in that. If you have any inquiries related to your oral health or would like to schedule an appointment for a full dental checkup and cleaning, please contact us immediately. We provide affordable and efficient oral filling treatment to residents of La Puente, California. Call us at 626-626-7075 today for professional, compassionate care
