Apart from keeping your teeth white and healthy, good oral hygiene also helps towards your overall health.
But even if you keep up a good oral hygiene routine, you can still dame your teeth with the foods you eat. That fur that sits on the surface and makes your mouth feel gross after you eat a candy bar? Well, that’s not the only thing to avoid.
Here are 7 of the worst foods for your teeth.
1. Sour Candies
We all know candy’s terrible for our teeth. It’s been drummed into us since we were kids.
But sour candies are the worst kind. Why? Because the sour coating is actually full of acid.
This soft, sugary, acidic mix washes over and sticks to your teeth, delivering a double-whammy of bacteria and tooth decay.
2. Citrus Fruits
While an apple a day keeps the doctor away, too many oranges, lemons or other citrus fruits might make trips to the dentist more frequent!
The citric acid in these fruits can cause your tooth enamel to be damaged and break down.
3. Sugary Soda
There are over 9 teaspoons of sugar in a regular 12oz can of Coke.
Yup, you read that right. 9 teaspoons. In 1 can. And soda’s acidic, too – even the diet stuff.
Just 1 can of sugary soda a day, over time, will have a major effect on your teeth. Sugary soda can damage and even dissolve teeth, so keep that in mind when you pick up your next glass.
4. Coffee
Aside from the staining effect of coffee on your teeth, this popular beverage also creates an acidic reaction in your mouth.
Over time, the continued exposure to this acid can lead to tooth decay. And if you add sugar or creamer to sweeten things up, it’ll make things worse.
5. White Bread
This might surprise you, but white bread breaks down into sugar in your mouth.
Now, it’s true that any carbohydrate-rich food becomes a form of sugar in your body. But white bread does that so quickly, it could eventually harm your teeth.
6. Dried Fruit
Another surprise? While dried fruit can be healthy as part of a balanced diet, the sad fact is that it’s chock full of sugar.
As we know, sugar leads to tooth decay. Plus dried fruit is chewy and sticky, so it’ll find all those sensitive little nooks and crannies, and wreak havoc.
7. Popcorn
You might be thinking that caramel or cinema-sweet popcorn are the ones to avoid. Unfortunately, the plain or salted stuff’s bad for your teeth too.
Unpopped kernels can cause tooth cracking or breakage. And the thin outer shell of the kernel, attached to the corn, can be even worse. It can get lodged between your tooth and gum and cause cavities and decay. It can even lead to bone and tooth loss. Yikes!
The Verdict on the Worst Foods for Your Teeth
Beautiful teeth make a great pearly white smile, but they also have the practical function of making eating a breeze!
Seriously though, when it comes to your teeth, you don’t know what you’ve got ’til they’re gone. Look after them, practice good oral hygiene, and keep your intake of the worst foods for your teeth to a minimum.
Do all that, and you’re sure to have a lovely bright smile for years to come.
But there are more benefits to healthy teeth than just making you look good. Check them out here.
source http://www.golsendental.com/top-7-worst-foods-for-your-teeth/
