Your Idaho Falls Dentists Care
Oral and dental health are imperative to your overall health and happiness. Your local Idaho Falls dentists at Eagle Rock Dental Care want you to live a happy and healthy life. It is important to note what you are putting into your mouth and making sure your mouth is free of bacteria and enamel eating substances. Food is good, we don’t deny that wonderful fact, but there are some foods in your daily diet that could be causing serious damage to your teeth without you even knowing it.
Always, the best way to make sure your teeth are healthy is to keep up with your regular checkup appointments and x-rays with your Idaho Falls dentist so that we can serve you best and be able to tell you how to prevent tooth decay rather than how to repair it. If you are looking for an Idaho Falls dentist for a teeth cleaning you should come see us at Eagle Rock Dental Care. We will take care of you.
We know you want a healthy mouth and you might be accidentally harming it, so we want to update you on some foods you might not have realized have been damaging your teeth and overall oral health.
1. Salad Dressing
Did you know that most of the salad dressings you find in the stores or in restaurants today contain fairly high amounts of sugar? It’s fairly obvious in some that there are also high amounts of vinegar as well. Both of these ingredients can be hard on your tooth enamel. Remember to brush after every meal and especially those that include a salad with dressing.
2. Apples
Many people don’t always realize the high levels of acid inside each delicious apple, but there are indeed very high amounts. Apples carry many important nutrients for your day, but also bring with them a very high acidity level which is incredibly rough on your teeth. After every apple you eat, be sure to rinse your mouth out and drink some water to make sure all the juice is out of our mouth.
3. Juice & Sport Drinks
Rarely will you find a truly healthy sports drink. Powerade and Gatorade both have high amounts of sugar in their drinks as do most brands of all types of juices. Juice is a nice refreshing way to start a morning or to pair with a light lunch. The sweet and chilled drinks are a big hit during the summer, but beware of all that sugar siting in your mouth for hours after you’ve finished your drink. Enjoy your drink, then rinse!
4. Hard Candy
It’s easy to remember tooth health when we eat a soft candy because typically pieces of candy will get stuck in molars or in between teeth and it reminds us we need to brush. But hard candies can be almost worse. They push up against our gums and teeth for long periods of time with a high concentration of sugar.
5. Pickled Vegetables
It’s that time of year when crops are being harvested from gardens. Jam is made and vegetables are pickled and canned. I love a good jar of pickled asparagus to go along with my summertime bbq burger! The pickling juice is full of vinegar which is a type of acetic acid. This type of acid removes calcium from the enamel, which forms the outer cover of the teeth. When calcium is removed, the teeth start decaying.
6. Popcorn
Who can go watch a movie at the theater and NOT get some popcorn? Even your Idaho Falls dentists will splurge on popcorn occasionally. Popcorn is a great and relatively healthy snack. How often does it happen though, that after finish a bowl of popcorn you find yourself sucking and picking at your teeth because small pieces have been lodged between two teeth? Popcorn has very thin, hard kernel pieces that when lodged between two teeth, makes for a breeding ground for bacteria. Always floss after popcorn!
7. Peanut Butter & Jelly
Both peanut butter and jelly (or jam) can be quite harmful to your teeth because of the sticky nature of them. The peanut butter and jelly will stick to the inside of your mouth in small crevices you won’t be able to clean until you brush your teeth and rinse with mouthwash. These two foods make many kids’ favorite school lunch sandwich. Encourage your children to rinse their mouth out after lunch if they can’t brush.
8. Diet Soda
Just because there isn’t sugar in diet sodas does not make them entirely safe for your oral and dental health. Some say the high acidity in diet sodas are almost worse than the high sugar levels in regular soda. All around, soda is just not a healthy choice for a healthy smile.
9. Wine
Wine is sweet and acidic. Furthermore, the alcohol in wine will dehydrate you and lower your saliva levels in your mouth making it harder for you to naturally clear your mouth of food and bacteria.
10. Crackers
The refined carbohydrates found in saltines and many other types of crackers convert to sugar in the mouth quickly. This provides fodder for cavity-forming bacteria. Crackers can also become mushy when chewed, turning into a paste-like goop that builds up in your molars and lodges between teeth.
So What Next?
Do you eat or drink any of the above on a regular basis? Regularly having your teeth professionally cleaned will help keep bacteria and other buildup from occurring. Contact our office today to set up an appointment with the best Idaho Falls Dentists.
Idaho Falls: (208) 523-5400
Rexburg: (208) 359-2224
Arco: (208) 527-3472
