Foods that promote tooth decay weaken the enamel. Your dental health may suffer as a result of food becoming lodged in the spaces between your teeth, where it may react with the bacteria in your mouth.
It may cause issues including dental decay, gum disease, or even missing teeth. In this guide, we will examine how various food groups impact dental health and how to mitigate the risks related to it.
The Most Harmful Foods That Cause Cavities and Tooth Decay
Three primary dietary categories that might harm your teeth. These consist of the following:
1. Starchy Foods
Even though bland or perfectly trivial, starchy meals might make the mouth’s already-existing bacteria produce more acid than usual. As a result, meals high in starch should be avoided since they have the same negative effects as acid. Starch may effortlessly cling to the teeth, even after cleaning. Examples of starchy foods that harm the teeth include:
- Rice: Rice can offer slow-release protein and a high level of nutrients. However, rice can potentially cause tooth decay because it includes starch as well. This may increase the risk of tooth decay.
- Fries: Potato starch is extremely harmful to the teeth. Especially when you make it a combo with salt and fat from the fried potato snack. To prevent tooth decay, try to minimise your intake of fries.
- Bread: All types of bread are bad, not just manufactured white bread, which is rendered worse by the added sugar and acid levels. Whole-grain bread may seem like a healthy choice, but you should exercise caution because the grains can get stuck between the teeth.
2. Sugary Foods
Fruits and vegetables that naturally contain sugar and meals with added sugar interact with oral bacteria, causing dental cavities and enamel erosion. Most people assume that the primary offenders are products such as chocolate, sweets, soft drinks, and carbonated beverages. However, even healthy foods and beverages can be harmful. Examples of sugary foods that harm the teeth include:
- Cereal bars: Cereal bars are loaded with tons of refined sugars. Try to rinse your teeth after eating since most cereal bars contain dried fruits with additional sweeteners and added sugar for flavour.
- Canned fruits: Consuming canned fruits causes greater dental cavities than eating fresh fruit. In order to increase their shelf life, they frequently add preservatives and sugar syrups. Alternately, eating fresh fruits is always a better idea.
- Readymade sauces: Check the sugar content of any premade spaghetti sauce or curry sauces before using them. For flavour, several well-known brands increase the sugar content. If you need sauces, consider making a fresh batch without sugar and refrigerating it to store it for a longer period of time.
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3. Acidic Foods
Alcohol and other high-acid meals and beverages, such as citrus fruits, may also interact with oral bacteria to destroy the enamel of your teeth. When poor dental hygiene is also a concern, eating certain foods might result in tooth decay. The majority of people initially do not believe that eating acidic foods may erode enamel. Examples of acidic foods that harm the teeth include:
- Pickles: Pickling is a great strategy to extend the shelf life of some foods. However, it also increases the acid content. You may start to understand how acid levels can rise significantly in a single meal if you eat something with a pickle on the side.
- Salt: Anything that contains salt will always result in more acid in the mouth. If you add salt to meals to add flavour, this might be problematic. Instead of adding salt to prepared meals, cook with salt to lessen the possibility of excessive acid levels.
- Processed meat: Any processed meat will have significantly greater amounts of acid than freshly cooked meat. Additionally, tough meats can also cling between the teeth, thus, eventually eroding the enamel.
4 Ways to Prevent Cavities and Tooth Decay
1. After Eating, Brush Right Away
Immediately following a meal, the bacteria in plaque start to work on metabolising the carbohydrates in your meals.
These bacteria start releasing toxic acids onto your teeth enamel as soon as the sugars are broken down, which leads to decay. It takes roughly 20 minutes to do this operation. Therefore, you may remove the plaque before it can do any harm by brushing your teeth as soon as possible.
2. Be Sure to Hydrate Yourself
Your teeth’ enamel is naturally strengthened by fluoride in water and is resistant to the corrosive acids found in plaque. In fact, fluoride has the ability to stop tooth decay in its tracks. Therefore, you may improve your dental health by consuming enough water.
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3. Examine the Labels
Avoiding sweets does not imply that you are avoiding sugar too. Sadly, sugar frequently sneaks into things you wouldn’t expect, such as yoghurt, baked beans, ketchup, and canned fruits as well. Therefore, be sure to read the labels when you shop for groceries to prevent consuming extra sugar.
4. Take Routine Appointments with Your Dentist
Seeing the dentist every six months allows them to detect tooth decay early on before it becomes serious. Future time, expense, suffering, and discomfort can all be avoided with preventive dentistry.
You will get a comprehensive dental cleaning during your appointment to help get rid of plaque and embedded stains between your teeth and beneath your gums. Your breath will also smell better after your appointment, improving both the appearance and the quality of your teeth.
Conclusion
You may greatly lower your chance of acquiring cavities and tooth decay by heeding the aforementioned advice. Additionally, we are less likely to require an emergency dental visit when our teeth are healthy. So, whether you need a dental cleaning or are interested in a routine checkup, call us at Complete Smiles right away to make an appointment.
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