For a healthy smile, you know the importance of brushing and flossing daily and seeing your dentist routinely for professional cleanings. But that’s not the only secret to a healthier smile.
In addition to eating a balanced diet that provides you with tooth-friendly vitamins and minerals, you should avoid those foods that can damage your pearly whites. Let’s look at four foods you should limit or avoid. But the foods you eat can also affect the health and condition of your teeth, and today we are going to name four foods that are can harm your pearly whites.
Hard Candy–Filled with sugar, these are hard enough to damage tooth enamel, leaving them with chips and even fractures. A safer alternative is sugarless chewing gum with the ADA Seal of approval on the label.
Ice–Like hard candy, ice is hard on tooth enamel. We recommend drinking your water, not chewing it!
Sticky foods–Although sticky foods like dried fruit sound healthy, they actually stick to tooth surfaces, feeding oral bacteria. This is especially hard on the hard-to-clean molars and premolars in the back of the mouth. Take a moment to rinse well after eating these, and brushing and flossing if possible to remove oral residue.
Starchy foods–Just like sticky foods, these have a similar effect on the teeth. They cling to teeth surfaces and between teeth, forming into harmful plaque. Limit foods such as chips, pretzels, crackers, and brush, floss, and rinse well after eating.
Keeping your teeth free from plaque will help prevent tooth decay and gum disease. If you need to schedule a visit with our dentist, Dr. Warren Cheung, please call us at E.G.I. Dental in Elk Grove, California today! We can be reached at 916-683-1994.
