The Worst Foods for Your Oral Health

As a cosmetic dentist in McKinney, TX, Dr. Lawrence believes the types of food his patients eat can say a lot about the current state of their oral health. Many types of foods and drinks can help to promote the further buildup of plaque that leads to the development of cavities and gum disease. That’s why your oral health largely depends on not only how frequently you brush and floss, but what you eat and drink, as well.

Fortunately, once you know the types of foods that present the biggest risk to your oral health, you can make the adjustments to your diet needed to help bolster your oral health. Let’s take a look at a few of the foods most likely to cause you to visit your cosmetic dentist in McKinney.

Sour Candies

Plaque and cavities rank as the most common disease faced by kids between the ages of six to 19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This makes eating a balanced diet especially important for kids whose oral health is continuing to develop.

Sour candies offer the double whammy of having both a high sugar content and a high acidity. They also tend to stick to the surface of our teeth for a long time after eating, which further enables their ability to help stimulate plaque buildup.

Alcoholic Beverages

Alcohol is both high in sugar and causes dry mouth, a condition commonly associated with tooth decay. Certain types of alcohol, such as red and white wine, also have a higher acidity, further contributing to tooth decay.

When consumed before bed, alcohol can further contribute to the dry mouth and lower saliva levels that normally occur during sleep. Saliva acts as the body’s natural defense mechanism against plaque. Dry mouth allows plaque to go unchecked when compared to the conditions normally found in the mouth when the body produces an adequate amount of saliva.

Ice

How can ice made from water rally harm our teeth? Well, it’s not what’s in ice, but its temperature that really matters. Whether outside in a blizzard or inside our mouths, the cold makes things more brittle. When tooth enamel becomes exposed to cold ice cubes, it becomes more brittle.

Not only is ice cold, it’s also hard. By eating ice cubes, you’re chilling enamel, making it weaker, and then asking it to bite down and break the hard cube. This type of strain may become too much for teeth already weakened by disease or decay.

Bread

Bread is another item you might not necessarily expect to see on a list of the worst foods for your oral health. When chewing on bread, saliva works to break down starch into sugar. Bread is also then transformed into a chewy, gummy paste-like substance that easily sticks to the surface of our teeth. In some ways, this process is similar to eating gummy candy, as you end up with sugars being stuck to the surface of your teeth.

It’s not a coincidence then that the diets best suited to helping improve a patient’s health are those that contain plenty of fresh fruit, vegetables, and whole grains.

Your Cosmetic Dentist in McKinney can Help

If years of eating a diet high in sugar and processed foods have left your smile looking less than its best, our team at McKinney Smiles can help. As a cosmetic dentist in McKinney, TX, Dr. Lawrence has the skill and experience needed to restore any smile to looking its best.

Contact our office today to schedule your next dental exam and cleaning. Start enjoying a smile you can have confidence in by seeing Dr. Lawrence today!