Over time your teeth can take quite a battering and the types of food you eat can mean the difference between one visit every six months to your Mackay Dentist and constant cosmetic work. Figuring out what works and what doesn’t in your diet can be difficult, so here’s some helpful advice to reduce the damage done to your teeth.
How your diet affects Tooth Decay
As we mentioned already, the things you eat on a daily basis can have quite an impact on how tooth decay influences your teeth. That’s because whether the thing we munch on is solid, liquid or a sticky mix that dissolves away, small parts of it always get stuck between your teeth. How often and how much of this will also impact on how much of this residue builds up, then over time this creates plaque and tartar that eat away at the protective enamel on your teeth.
Foods to avoid
There are a lot of foods out there that can be particularlyharmful to teeth, finding out by yourself what ones are bad and what’s safe can be difficult if you don’t know where to begin. But, to help here’s a couple things you should stay away from.
To start off, anything that’s considered empty calories is a big no-no. This is basically things hard candy, cakes, sweets and snack foods like potato chips or other junk food. Not only are these low in nutrition, there’s usually a high amount of sugar in these that can stick to your teeth and cause bacteria to build up. These bacteria then release acids that eat away at your enamel to create cavities and tooth decay.
Nutritional foods like tomatoes and oranges are also bad as their natural acids go to work in your mouth. Replacing these with dried out fruit is a more tooth friendly approach.
Finally, when you’re having a drink try to avoid anything high in sugar or sweeteners. This applies to sodas, fruit juices, coffee and tea. These drinks can be particularly harmful as the motion of sipping them bathes your teeth constantly over time. The negative impacts of sugary drinks is well written documented, so try to cut them out if you can.
Tips to avoid Cavities
The two main things you can try at home to cut down on cavities is to change your diet and improve your overall oral health routine. Try to brush twice a day if you can and introduce flossing after meals, mouthwash is another good addition to your routine and you should also consider an electric brush. If you’re still unsure, ask at your local practice like Northern Beaches Dental in Mackay for advice on where to start.
These are just a few things you can keep in mind when making those changes to your diet, it doesn’t need to be a huge overhaul in one night but gradual changes over time can benefit you. Try to play it smart with your choice of meals and hopefully this should help your teeth last a bit longer.