Each time you sit in a dentist’s chair, worried about when she will take out the drill tip, you probably vow to yourself that you will pay any price and take any preventive steps necessary to have this never happen again. If you’re serious about that promise you’ve made to yourself, it’s time to make good on it.
Certainly, you need to brush regularly and see the dentist once every couple of months to catch any dental problems early. You also need to avoid foods that are bad for your teeth. There’s a lot more to that list than just candy.
Oranges and lemons
While oranges do have an acidic taste, their acidity is the pleasant kind. A spoon of lemon juice, on the other hand, is impossible to drink with a straight face. This should tell you something. The acid in lemon juice is so powerful that a pulled tooth placed in it can actually dissolve. The citric acid in oranges is not strong and doesn’t have what it takes to dissolve tooth material.
You don’t need to stay away from citrus fruits. You can have as much as you want – as long as you remember to brush your teeth right after to make sure that there’s no a lemon on your teeth for long.
Vinegar is no less acidic
If you like your heap your sandwiches with pickles, you could be giving your teeth a hard time. Vinegar, the pickling ingredient that gives them their well-loved sour taste can be a real tooth killer. Pickles are popular in Britain – a nation that’s well-known for the dental challenges its citizens face. A study done on teenagers in Britain has found that a daily pickle habit can almost double one’s chances of tooth wear.
Soda is bad for your teeth – but mostly not for the sugar
We often hear about how sugary soda is bad for dental health. There isn’t much said about the acid in it, though. Even if diet soda has no sugar in it, it still does contain phosphoric acid and citric acid. If you have a regular Coke, Pepsi, Red Bull or Gatorade habit, you dissolve your teeth with each sip.
Coffee, tea and wine
Both coffee and wine are sticky substances. This is bad news because the stickiness tends to trap food particles right on your teeth. Wine and green tea don’t even need bacteria to corrode your teeth – they are acidic on their own.
If you love cookies and crackers
While these goodies are usually seen as healthy snacks, they are made of white flour and sugar –substances that are bad for the teeth. Made of refined flour as they are, cookies turn into a sticky paste once you start chewing on them. The paste goes into every nook and cranny in your teeth. When the bacteria come, they can attack in particularly difficult-to-reach places.
There are good ways to fight these effects
Sugarless gum is one effective way to fight tooth decay. It stimulates the production of saliva and helps wash away any corrosive substances on your teeth.
Now, go check out the Tooth Fairy Awards
