Preventing Tooth Decay By Avoiding Certain Foods And Drinks
People think of candy when the think of tooth decay. Everyone agrees that candy is bad for your oral health, but did you know that there is something that is probably in your cupboard right now that is worse than candy? What could be worse for your teeth than candy you might ask, well it is saltine crackers. Saltine crackers, as well as Goldfish crackers, are a fermentable and highly processed starch.
Your mouth has naturally occurring bacteria. When you eat a saltine cracker that is highly processed starch, this bacteria literally goes into a feeding frenzy as the simple starch turns to sugar. This allows the bacteria to multiply beyond a healthy balance.
As you eat these starchy crackers, they begin to get gooey and that creates an even worse problem as that goo gets stuck in between your teeth where the bacteria can fester even longer creating the perfect environment for decay.
Bacteria is a living organism. As it feasts on sugars, it also must eliminate just as we do after a meal. Thus creating even more havoc in your mouth.
Saltine crackers and Goldfish crackers are not the only food that you will find in the grocery store that is simple starch. Anything with white refined flour will evoke a bad environment in your mouth.
Other Foods that Are Also Bad For Your Teeth
Soda
While many people will think that diets sodas are better because they do not contain sugar, that is not the case. The acid found in soda wears down tooth enamel. If you do have a soda, be sure to rinse (not brush) to diminish the acid.
Energy Drinks
Energy drinks like Red Bull and sports drinks like Gatorade and Vitamin Water contain a large amount of acid and can do some major damage on your teeth. A published study tested acidity levels in these types of drinks by exposing human tooth enamel to sports drinks for 15 minutes per day, and it only took 5 days to show signs of tooth decay. The energy drinks caused double the damage to sports drinks.
Dried Fruits
Dried fruit will often be thought of as a healthy snack but in reality, you are much better off with the fruit in the original state. All of the water is taken out of the fruit when it is dried. All of the naturally occurring sugars in the fruit will become concentrated. They have a stickiness to them which allows the dried fruit to stick to your teeth just like candy and causing tooth decay.
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