Candy Isn’t the Only Thing Harming Your Teeth

Sure, everyone knows that candy causes cavities. There is even that old joke that a dentist’s favorite holiday is Halloween. But did you know that there are other foods that can cause an equal amount of damage to your teeth?

What Foods Cause Damage?

Surprisingly, bread and carbs like it can harm your teeth due to the starch in them. Your saliva breaks the starch down to its’ most basic component, which is sugar. This is the same sugar in candies that causes cavities and results in tooth decay.

Much like bread and other grain products, potato chips can cause damage to teeth as well for a similar reason. Potato chips can be easily stuck between teeth, and the starch is also converted into a cavity-causing sugar. Plus, they also cause acidifying effects as well.

Alcohol is bad for your teeth as well. When you drink an alcoholic beverage, you become dehydrated. This makes your mouth extremely dry, so your mouth is not producing a healthy amount of saliva. This is bad because saliva washes away food debris that can build up bacteria in between your teeth.

Similar to alcoholic beverages, carbonated beverages also cause damage to your teeth by drying out your mouth. Excessive soda drinkers are more likely to build up plaque because of the acid in the carbonated drinks, which will wear away tooth enamel. Plus, soda causes discoloration and speeds up the tooth decay process.

More surprising than the damage bread causes, is that ice can hurt your teeth too! Who would have thought? But yes, chewing on ice can chip the enamel off your teeth and open you up to infection from bacterial building up, or even worse – breaking the tooth itself.

Citrus can damage your teeth because it has acids, causing a similar effect as carbonated beverages. The acid erodes the enamel on your teeth over time, increasing sensitivity and decreasing the protective layer. This makes your teeth more susceptible to decay.

How to Prevent Tooth Damage

Whole-wheat bread and grain products have less sugar and are less damaging to your teeth while also being even healthier than regular carb products. If you switch to these products, you are less likes to suffer from cavities.

Floss after eating these to decrease the damage. Brush your teeth often.

Eat citrus fruits in moderation. Avoid dry fruits.

Avoid chewing ice if you can help it. Do not chew on foods or things that are especially hard as this will surely damage your enamel and break your tooth.

If you still want to enjoy a soda, try to use a straw so that the soda will by-pass your teeth. Brushing your teeth after a soda would be the best practice. Decrease soda intake.

Decrease your alcohol intake. If you do want to drink alcohol, make sure that you drink a healthy amount of water after consuming a beverage. This will flush your mouth out and help decrease the damage.