Are Your Dietary Habits Wreaking Havoc On Your Oral Health?
Learn to eat for a healthy smile!
While great oral hygiene habits play a huge role in maintaining the health of a smile, it isn’t the only factor at play. Your diet, including how often you tend to snack throughout the day and on what, also holds a significant impact on a person’s oral health. So, what’s your eating style - and has it been helping, or harming, your smile?
Asking yourself the following questions is a great way to determine whether some dietary habit changes are in order:
-
Q: Does my diet include a lot of processed carbohydrates or sugary foods/beverages?
If your diet consists of a lot of sugary cereals or granola, cookies, candy, fruit juices or sodas, etc… this is putting you at a higher risk for tooth decay. When you consume a carb or sugar-based food or drink, the bacteria in your mouth uses this as fuel to produce tooth decay-causing acids.
Our Milton dentist suggests that patients try their best to limit the amount of such foods/beverages they consume, or at least make it a habit to swish water or milk around in the mouth following consumption to help wash off bacteria from the teeth while neutralizing mouth acidity.
-
Q: Does my diet include a lot of acidic foods or drinks (citrus fruits/ juices, vinegar-based dressings, etc.)?
Every time you consume any food or beverage with high levels of acidity, you put yourself at risk for some enamel erosion. Our tooth enamel is particularly sensitive to acids, as they can erode this hard protective layer and increase one’s risk for decay. As mentioned above, reducing your intake of these substances or swishing water or milk around in your mouth after consumption will help to keep any harm done at a minimum!
-
Q: Do I tend to snack regularly between meals throughout the day?
If you have a tendency to snack frequently throughout the day on sugar- or acidic-based foods and/or beverages, you might want to work at changing this. The more often your mouth is exposed to sugary or acidic substances, the more instances of acid attacks your teeth have to endure – increasing your risk for enamel erosion and/or cavity development each time.
Just try to keep your snacking to a minimum… unless of course, you’re snacking on dental-friendly foods such as cheese or celery!
Will you be making any changes to your dietary habits?
Your diet goes hand in hand with your oral hygiene habits when it comes to determining the health of your smile. By simply implementing the smallest changes right now, you can begin to make a considerable impact on your oral health long-term!
If it’s been longer than 6 months since you’ve scheduled a dental check-up and cleaning, book a visit with our friendly dentist in Milton today. We’d be happy to hear from you!
