There’s no denying there’s plenty of delicious food out there to enjoy! From mouth-watering marinara to heavenly cakes and candies—but the issue is that these foods can also wreak havoc on your teeth! If you want to look after your dental health and minimize the amount of time you spend visiting your dentist, check out our list of the foods and drinks that cause the biggest problems for your teeth and dental health!
- Sugary drinks
It might be soda, sweet tea, coffee with sugar, or the healthiest of health drinks, but if it has sugar in it, it’s no good for your teeth. Drinks are particularly insidious, as you’ll frequently sip at them—coating and re-coating your teeth in sugars that will make the bacteria of your mouth jump with glee. We recommend drinking these drinks through an Eco-friendly paper or reusable straw and rinsing with water afterward, or best of all, cutting them from your diet entirely!
- Acidic drinks
Even if you think your choice of beverage is free from sugar, like diet sodas, the reality is acidic beverages are abrasive to your teeth and will make your mouth nearly as hospitable to bacteria as sugary ones AND do direct damage. The same is also true of carbonated water, so stick to sugar-free and flat if you can.
- Candy
It’s an obvious choice but a true one nonetheless. Candy ruins your teeth about as fast as anything possibly could. Hard candies are the most dangerous, as they pose a direct physical threat, but chewy candies that cling to your teeth are quite risky in their own way, particularly if you have loose fillings or dentures.
- Fruit
Some fruit isn’t too bad for your teeth but beware of anything especially sugary or acidic—and stay away from dried fruits, which are far worse and tend to get stuck to your teeth for long periods. This applies doubly to juices, wine, or anything made using fruit that isn’t actually fruit. Fruits high in water content are best, so watermelons it is!
- Tomatoes
Ketchup, pizza sauce, countless noodle dishes, all of them share one thing: the extreme acidity of tomatoes. If you’re prone to mouth sores, you may already be familiar with the secret caustic nature of tomatoes—they cause, irritate, and inflame mouth and digestive issues for a reason. Many processed tomato-based products also contain sugar, so be aware of this!
- Simple starches
Whether it’s white bread, potatoes, rice, or anything else made with them, keep away from the simple starches if you can. They break down almost instantly into pure sugars, giving the bacteria that lives in your mouth plenty of incentive to get out of control and start damaging your teeth and gums.
- Alcohol
Putting aside the areas where alcohol overlaps with other items on the list, it causes damage to your teeth in a wholly unique way: by dehydrating you. A dry mouth lacks the insulating, protective saliva that keeps your bacteria in check and your teeth clean. That means all the other items on this list get even worse if you dry your mouth out with alcohol, and don’t forget about the amount of sugars and acids often found in alcoholic beverages. Not to mention, darker liquids such as red wine will stain your teeth!
These are just a few of the foods that while may be great to indulge in, may also be destroying your teeth! We’re not expecting you to completely cut out your favorite pasta dish or bubbly water, we just want you to be aware of how these foods could be affecting your dental health! Best practice is to brush your teeth after eating or drinking, and of course, visit your trusted Albuquerque dentists at LoPour & Associates at least twice a year!
