Your teeth are one of the most important things in your body. They help break down nutrients for your body to help you stay strong and healthy. They also give you an amazing smile and make you more approachable. Teeth also help you enunciate your words and create and keep conversations with coworkers, friends, and strangers. Having a healthy and complete set of teeth also helps keep your face and bone structure strong. Teeth are an important and very underappreciated aspect of the human body.
Here are ten bad foods to avoid for the life of your teeth:
1.Soda/Carbonated drinks
Yeah, soda is not food. But it is number one on a lot of lists because a lot of people do not consider the fact that we drink soda almost every day and we do not rinse our mouths out afterward. The sugar and other acids found in soda stick to your teeth, if you do not rinse afterward, and they start to decay your tooth enamel and eventually they corrode your teeth and they get gross and lead to a need for dental help. New Hyde Park Dental comes in handy when it comes to dental cleaning in New York.
2. Gum
Also not food; Gum stays in your mouth for long periods of time, leaving behind its stickiness and all the sugar after every little smack. Your mouth has bacteria, it is completely normal, but this specific bacteria loves to feed on sugars. Just like the soda, the sugar from the gum coats your teeth and lead to tooth decay and hardships.
3.Sour Candy
Sour candy contains more kinds of acids than other candies. Some sour candies can actually burn your mouth and gums, let alone cause tooth issues. You can not solve the problem by brushing immediately after you eat them, because brushing too soon after consuming highly acidic foods or drinks could damage your enamel even further because the bristles are too hard and can cause scratching which leads to worse tooth situations.
4.Canned Fruit
Most fruits have a good amount of natural sugars in them, canned varieties have lots of added sugar to help preserve and make them more attractable. Canned citrus fruit is the worst because they are naturally acidic food and they are infused with lots of sugars.
5.Popcorn
The kernel shells can get trapped between your teeth, which sparks bacteria growth. Unpopped kernels are also really hard and you could possibly damage a tooth and even chip it.
6.Vinegar
Vinegar can trigger tooth decay. We eat it with various types of foods, healthy, like salads and not healthy, like potato chips. Enamel erosion is a bigger risk for people who consumer vinegar-infused foods. Be sure to rinse your mouth out with water after eating that super yummy vinegar infused salad
7.Breath Mints
We all love fresh breath, but breath mints are probably not the best option. Since they stay in your mouth for a very long time, you are in fact soaking your teeth in sugar. You should start looking for sugar-free versions of your favorite mints to cut down on the danger that is breath mints.
8.Cough Drops
Even though they help make the pain of a sore throat alleviate, cough drops are covered in sugar. Just like breath mints, cough drops stay in your mouth for long periods of time, therefore, coating your teeth in sugar and making it easier to damage your tooth enamel and cause tooth-related problems later on.
9.Potato Chips
Foods that contain a lot of starch like to get stuck in between your teeth. Potato chips are the ultimate snack food but unfortunately, the starch in it along with its malleable texture means it will stay trapped between your teeth for a long time until you brush your teeth, rinse and also floss to get every trace of it out of your teeth.
10.Color-Rich Fruits and foods (the pretty ones)
Highly pigmented foods like different berries and beets can easily stain your teeth, just like red wine (which is another damaging thing to drink). Even though these fruits are healthy and you are supposed to be eating them to maintain a good diet and stay healthy, you need to be conscious about where you are eating them and if you can rinse your mouth quick enough to reduce the damaging stains to your teeth.[1]
Overall, eating healthy things is good for the entirety of your body. Just be conscious about the types of foods you eat and if you are able to rinse your mouth out afterward. Vinegar lathered salads are healthy but the vinegar is bad for your teeth, be sure to rinse. Potato chips are easy to snack on but they take more work to get out of your mouth than they do to get in. Fruits are great to stay healthy and even hydrated but be sure to rinse your mouth with water after consuming sugar and color-rich fruits. Gum, breath mints and cough drops may soothe anxiety and sore throats but they also bring unnecessary sugar into your mouth. The bacteria in your mouth feeds on these bacterias which makes it easier for them to decay your teeth and chew on the tooth enamel that weakens your teeth.
Regular check ups to the dentist help keep your on track with your dental hygiene. It will also help you to understand more about what you are eating and how you can pay more attention and keep your teeth out of danger of tooth decay and bad enamel. Check out local dentists and schedule a check up so you can get started, or continue your path to beautiful and healthy teeth.
[1] Facts and information for this article were found on Google as well as nano-b.com.
