Not everything you eat is good for you. There are healthy choices that help fuel your body and there are less healthy options that can leave you feeling unsatisfied. Food doesn’t just affect your overall health. Food plays a major role in the health of your teeth too. Just like there are healthy and unhealthy foods for your body, there foods that can help and hurt your teeth. You can help to avoid unnecessary damage to your teeth by avoiding these three damaging foods.
Damaging Food #1: Sticky Foods
Whether you are indulging in some sour gummy candies or eating some dried fruit, sticky foods are very damaging to your teeth. Because they are sticky they tend to stay to your teeth longer than other foods, which means they do more damage to your teeth. Sticky candy will contain lots of teeth-damaging sugar, and even though it is natural sugar, so can fruit. If you are eating sticky foods, be sure to rinse your mouth with water after. Or better yet, brush your teeth.
Damaging Food #2: Citrus
While not necessarily unhealthy, citrus foods like oranges, grapefruit, lemons, limes, etc. can be very damaging to your teeth. This is because of the acids they contain. These acid can erode enamel over time. Many citrus fruits make a good snack, so just be careful to limit the amount of citrus you consume, especially if you start to experience dental problems because of it.
Damaging Food #3: Chips
Sometimes there’s nothing more satisfying than a bag of chips, but be careful when you start to have too many of these tooth-damaging snacks. Potato chips are filled with starch, and starch easily gets trapped between your teeth. This starch can become sugar and ultimately feed the plaque that can cause wreak havoc on your teeth. Potato chips aren’t good for your overall health anyway, but if you do choose to indulge every now and then be sure to brush and floss thoroughly to remove any leftover particles of food.
If you’ve already suffered damage to your teeth from sticky foods, citrus snacks, or chips it’s a good idea to find a dentist who can help reverse the damage. Whether you find a dentist by insurance or find a dentist in your area, there should be plenty of dental options available to you. In fact, there are many low cost dental services that make access to dentists available to everyone. Your dental care is just as important as any other medical care you may receive, so don’t wait to go in for your regular cleanings or other dental procedures.
If you are in the Orem area and are in need of a trustworthy dentist that will treat you like family, look no further than the Crawford Leishman Dental. When you walk into their office you can expect to feel at home as you’re greeted by personable and friendly staff. Most importantly, you’ll receive exceptional dental care. Whether you regularly have sticky foods, citrus, chips, or not, let the Crawford Leishman Dental handle all of your dental needs.
