Good oral health is an essential part of your overall health and wellbeing. When you maintain proper oral health practices, you feel confident that you will maintain a pearly white and healthy smile. Cavities are decayed parts of your teeth that develop into small openings where the bacteria can enter and reach the inner parts of your tooth. Cavities are not only painful but could also cause you to lose your teeth and the perfect smile. One of the best methods of preserving your dental health is to prevent dental complications.

What you consume could have a significant impact on the health of your mouth. Often the cavity-causing foods have compounds that cause tooth sensitivity, decay, cavities, and other health issues. Although some of these foods are generally healthy and useful to our overall health, eating them in moderation could help avoid unnecessary dental compilations. Some of the common foods that could cause tooth cavities to include:

Acidic Foods

While growing up, you may have been told that brushing your teeth will help remove bacteria that produce acid in the mouth. While it is true that acid from bacteria in the mouth is harmful to your teeth, so is the acid from foods. Your teeth can be damaged directly from consuming foods that are high in acids. Although most acidic foods like citrus fruits are healthy and contain a high level of vitamin C, overconsumption of the foods could result in tooth erosion, cavities, and eventually tooth decay.

Often the PH in your mouth is neither alkaline nor acidic. However, the PH from goods can affect this balance. The acidic nature of these foods weakens the enamel causing it to wear away. As a result, your teeth will start to discolor, weaken and eventually develop cavities. The process of acid erosion of the tooth enamel could include:

  • The acid weakens the tooth enamel
  • Your teeth become visibly thinner and with a high susceptibility to damage even as a result of brushing
  • Your teeth appear transparent and become very sensitive
  • Yellowing of the teeth increases the visibility of the dentine layer
  • Your teeth begin to look dull
  • Risk of tooth decay and development of cavities

Some of the acidic foods that you should limit to maintain a healthy mouth and protect your enamel from erosion include:

  • Carbonated beverages
  • Coffee
  • Sports drinks
  • Citrus fruits and juice extracted from these fruits
  • Alcohol
  • Tonic water
  • Pickles Vinegar
  • Wine

Avoiding these acidic foods is a good idea. However, some of them are essential to our overall health, and we cannot afford to cut them off our diet completely. Therefore, you should consume them in moderation or team them up with foods of lower ph. such as:

  • Cheese
  • Fish
  • Oatmeal
  • Eggs
  • Bananas
  • Whole grains
  • Nuts

While it is healthy to brush your teeth immediately after meals, brushing your teeth after consumption of acid foods could only speed up the process of tooth erosion. This is because the acid softens the enamel. After eating acidic foods, consider taking a lot of water to increase the production of saliva, which neutralizes the mouth acids.

Additionally, you can use the following tips to protect your teeth from cavities reducing from acidic foods without forgoing your favorite snacks:

  1. Pair acidic foods with water. Water helps rinse away residual acids from your mouth.
  2. Eat acidic foods as a full meal. Consumption of acidic foods as a meal helps neutralize the acid and reduce contact with your teeth.
  3. Use a straw. When you consume acidic drinks, you can reduce the contact between the foods and your teeth using a straw. Also, it would be best if you did not allow the drunks to last long in your mouth.
  4. Practice dental hygiene. Regular brushing and brushing is a great way to ensure good oral hygiene. Additionally, it would be best if you make regular dental visits. This helps in the early detection of the tooth erosion process and treatment before you develop tooth cavities.

Ice Cubes

Chewing on ice is an incredibly common habit, especially in hot summer months. People often chew ice for many different reasons, including crunching on something, chasing after the cooling sensation, or relieving stress. In some cases, a person could be tempted to chew on ice cubes to satisfy their hunger sensation without ingesting additional calories. 

Regardless of your reasons for chewing the ice, the habit poses a significant danger to your oral health. Ice, like other hard foods, could cause a crack in the enamel, which causes sensitivity to hot or cold foods. Additionally, these cracks could be an entry point of bacteria to the inner parts of your teeth. Some of the ways through which ice damages your teeth and increases susceptibility to dental cavities include:

  • Damage of the enamel. Although tooth enamel is the hardest substance in your body, chewing ice can damage it. The tooth enamel is your first line of defense against cavities, and it protects your teeth and gums from acid and sugar attacks. If you damage your enamel by chewing ice, you leave your tooth exposed and more vulnerable to acid attacks which could eventually cause cavities.
  • Chips and cracks on teeth. Our teeth could appear sturdy and tough. However, they are not designed for chewing on very hard substances like ice. Chewing ice cubes can cause your teeth to chip or crack, which is ultimately a dental emergency. When left untreated, cracked or chipped tooth parts become an entryway for bacteria and plaque. If you have broken your tooth from chewing the ice, you need to preserve the pieces in milk and seek immediate dental care.
  • Damage of dental fillings. Dental fillings are a common procedure used to restore the health and functionality of your teeth. The habit of chewing ice is often subconscious and reflexive, and many people don’t even acknowledge it as a problem. Chewing of ice could expand filling materials, causing you to lose them. Loss of dental filling exposes your tooth to bacteria which could cause cavities. Therefore, if you have dental fillings, it would be in your best interests to avoid chewing hard substances such as ice.

If you have a habit of chewing on ice cubes and find it challenging to stop, you can try out these tricks to help avoid damaging your teeth:

Melt the ice in your mouth. Instead of crushing through the ice cubes with your teeth, you can allow the ice to melt in your mouth slowly. This way, you will receive the satisfaction and cooling effect in your mouth without compromising your oral health. Also, allowing the acid to melt makes it last longer, meaning you will consume less ice than chewing through it.

  1. Switch to slush. You can protect your teeth from damage by replacing your ice cubes with slushies’ or softer shaven ice. This ensures that you use less force to chew on them and reduce the risk of cracking your enamel.
  2. Skip the temptation. Ice in restaurants could contain bacteria that add to the risk of developing dental cavities. Therefore, you should try to avoid the temptation of chewing on ice by staying away from ice in beverages at the restaurant.
  3. Treat the underlying cause. There are many reasons why people chew on ice. Sometimes, it may be to keep cool and refreshed during the summer, while it is an indication of a far worse issue in other cases. Chewing ice could be a result f iron deficiency. If you inform your dentist about the issue, they can help you find the root cause and handle it accordingly.
  4. Crunch switch. Sometimes you may be tempted to chew ice for not only the cooling effect t but also for the crunch. If you need crunch, you can go for other alternatives such as apple slices, cucumber, or carrot sticks. Crunching n fruit will reduce the need to use ice cubes but also aids in saliva production, which acts as a natural mouthwash.

Dried Fruits

Dried fruit is a common and convenient snack for families that are too busy to prepare something else. Unless you dry your fruit, you will not need to put in any effort. Just hand your child the packet of dried fruit and move on to other tasks. Although this saves you some time and adds a serving of fruit to your child’s diet, these fruits’ sticky and sugary nature could be detrimental to your child’s oral health. 

Dried fruit is a form of fruit where water has been completely removed, leaving it smaller than the original. Sometimes, sugar is added to the dried fruits to improve their texture and taste. When compared to fresh fruits, dried fruits have a longer shelf life. Also, lime juice could be added to the drying process. This lowers the PH of the fruit, making it more acidic.

Dried fruit has a high concentration of sugar and a sticky texture. Since the quantity of the fruit reduces after drying, you may tend to consume more of the dried fruit. Any food that is sweet and sticky increases the susceptibility to tooth decay. It may be challenging to remove dried fruits from the tooth enamel. The longer they stay on your teeth, the more bacteria they attract. Bacteria produce acids that erode the tooth enamel and cause cavities.

Dried fruit could cause a wide variety of dental complications leading to tooth decay and the development of cavities. Since most dried fruits are not organic, they are associated with a decrease in saliva secretion. Saliva is a natural antibiotic that helps clear bacteria from the mouth. A reduction in saliva prodi8ction will result in more bacteria activity which is the first step of developing dental cavities.

Some of the dried fruits are crunchy and chewing. If you are not careful while chewing them, your teeth could chip, or your filling could be lost. If you have dental flinging, consumption of dried fruit is discouraged. Immediately after consuming the dried fruits, you should brush and floss your teeth. This will help remove any fruit that sticks to your teeth.

Sugary Foods

Although sugar is not the direct cause of dental cavities, it enhances the process of tooth decay and the development of the cavities. Also, consuming sugary foods make it impossible to treat oral health complications. There are loads of both good and harmful bacteria in your mouth. When you eat sugary foods, the harmful bacteria in the mouth feed on the sugar and, as a result, produce acids. Acid from bacteria weakens and damages the tooth enamel, causing cavities.

Foods that contain excessive sugar include candies, desserts, and soft drinks. Additionally, many healthy foods have natural sugar, essential for daily body function. Therefore, we cannot afford to kick off all sugary foods from our diet. Some of the ways through which you can protect your teeth from cavities while still retaining some sugary foods in your diet include:

  • Regular brushing of the teeth. This helps remove plaque and reduce the amount of sugar in the mouth.
  • Flossing. Flossing is an essential component of oral hygiene that is often overlooked. After consuming sugary foods, flossing helps remove residual food particles that remain between your teeth.
  • Chew sugar-free gum. Chewing gum stimulates the production of saliva, which is essential for cleaning out bacteria from your mouth.

Alcohol

Occasional alcohol consumption may be a part of a healthy lifestyle. However, excessive use of alcohol could result in numerous long-term problems. Although many people understand the risk of excessive consumption of alcohol like metabolic problems liver cirrhosis metabolic issues, they fail to acknowledge how alcohol can cause oral health problems. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, normal alcohol consumption means one drink per day for women and two drinks for men.

Pure alcohol may not be enough to damage our teeth. However, many people consume mixed drinks, resulting in the consumption of high amounts of sugar and acid. This can result in the development of cavities and tooth decay. Consumption of high amounts of alcohol can cause atrophy of the salivary gland cells, which translates to a decreased production and saliva flow. 

A dry mouth is a perfect environment for the growth of bacteria. The bacteria will produce acids and cause infection of the gums and the development of pockets. Additionally, alcohol metabolizes into sugar, an enemy of good oral health. Through the pockets, more bacteria enter your teeth, causing further damage. In addition to gum infections, a study done in 2015 has shown that individuals who consume large quantities of alcohol have a three times more likelihood of permanent tooth loss. 

People who suffer from alcohol abuse often forget to brush their teeth or fail to follow proper hygiene practices. Failure to clean your teeth and remove the acid and sugars associated with alcohol mixtures could result in serious tooth decay and dental cavities.

Although consulting with a dentist is not the first thing you think about as you recover from a hangover. However, it is important to understand that what you put in your mouth impacts your oral health. If you like to enjoy a drink or two, you can protect your teeth by brushing regularly and avoiding dehydration.

Starchy Foods

Candy and other sugary foods are not good for your oral health. However, many people fail to realize that refined starches areas worse. In most cases, you will be more conscious of the sugar you are consuming while snacking on a packet of candy compared to a bag of potato crisps. Since the sugar content of starchy foods is not readily known, you may not put much thought into it.

Carbohydrates such as potato crisps, pasta, and white bread are broken down to sugar as soon as they enter your body. The digestion of starches begins in the mouth, contributing to lingering sugars in the mouth. The sugar from the carbohydrates creates a conducive environment for bacteria to thrive. Bacteria from residual foods produce acid that eats away your tooth enamel causing cavities.

When you consume starchy foods, developing tooth cavities does not begin right away. However, failure to practice proper oral hygiene causes the starches to last longer and increase the likelihood of developing cavities. You can protect your teeth by ensuring that you take water together with the starches. This helps wash away the sugars and acids from these foods.

Find a Reliable Dentist Near Me

Regardless of your age, the reason you could experience tooth decay and cavities is the same. The cavities are tiny holes in the tooth which develop from tooth decay. Tooth cavities form when bacteria from leftover foods turn into an acid, which dissolves your tooth structure. In addition to maintaining good oral hygiene, maintaining a healthy diet could help maintain proper oral health and reduce the susceptibility of developing tooth cavities.

When you consume foods containing too many sugars and acids, they contribute to plaque build-up, which eventually causes tooth decay. Tooth cavities are not only very painful, but they also compromise the integrity of your oral health and overall wellbeing. If you experience tooth decay or cavities, it is crucial to consult a dentist. At Ganji Dental, we offer top-notch treatment for dental complications. Additionally, we will help you protect the rest of your teeth from damage. We serve clients requiring dental health care in Hawthorne, CA. Call us today at 310-643-8045.