Most people realize that a proper diet and frequent exercise are critical to keeping them healthy. However, do you know how important it is to keep your mouth healthy for the healthy body that you deserve? Poor oral and dental health can negatively impact the quality of your life by affecting your social, physical, and mental well-being.
Aside from affecting the aesthetic appearance of your smile, a missing tooth can affect your ability to speak and chew food for a healthy body. While most common dental issues like cavities could be due to other factors like dry mouth, tooth location, and poor dental hygiene, the foods we consume daily are the top causes of this life-changing dental condition.
Your daily diet can significantly impact your overall dental and oral health. Read on for more relevant information about cavity-causing foods that you should avoid or at least limit to stay on top of your dental health.
What are Cavities and How Do They Develop?
Before we discuss cavity-causing foods, you need to understand what cavities are and how they develop, putting you at risk of tooth loss. Cavities are permanently damaged areas of your teeth' enamel that develop into tiny holes. The enamel (outer surface of your tooth) is mineralized and strong, but it has limits.
When exposed to acidic foods and acidic excretes from mouth bacteria that thrive on the plaque (a brownish sticky film that coats your teeth surface), the enamel can wear out and develop tiny holes (cavities). Below are some of the warning signs that you have a cavity (s) on your teeth:
- Tooth sensitivity
- A visible hole in your teeth
- Teeth pain
- White, black, or brownish stain on the surface of your teeth (plaque)
Once you experience these symptoms, you should speak to your dentist immediately. When left unchecked, cavities can make you lose your tooth and cause other serious oral issues like periodontitis.
Everyday Cavity-Causing Foods You Should Know
Our daily foods can either boost or compromise our dental and oral health. Several foods can help keep cavities at bay, but below, we will discuss common foods that increase your chances of developing this dental health condition:
Dried Fruits
Sticky and chewy foods like candies and dried fruits can stick and remain attached to the surface of your teeth for an extended period, providing harmful mouth bacteria with nutrients and an ideal environment to thrive.
Aside from their sticky nature, dried fruits are high in sugar, which mouth bacteria feast on to produce acidic excretes that erode your teeth' enamel, leading to cavities.
While dried fruits are healthy due to their high nutrient and fiber content, you should consume them in moderation and thoroughly rinse your mouth with water afterward to wash away any lingering sugars.
Because dried fruits are acidic, after eating them, your teeth's enamel could become softer. Hence, it is advisable to wait at least half an hour before brushing your teeth to avoid causing further damage to your teeth' enamel when you eat acidic fruits.
Sugary Candies and Sweets
If you want to enjoy the taste of sweets, eat those that dissolve in your mouth quickly. Candies that stick and linger in your mouth for an extended period, like jelly beans, lollipops, and caramels, can make it challenging for your saliva to remove the sugar. Particular desserts rich in sugar can cause cavities and tooth decay, for example:
- Pies
- Cookies
- Cakes
If resisting the urge to eat sugary candies and sweets is challenging, try snacking on them after a main meal instead of between meals.
Starchy Foods and Refined Carbohydrates
Foods packed with loaded carbohydrates and starch, like pasta, bread, crackers, and chips, can negatively affect your dental health. The starchy foods and carbohydrates you consume break down into simple sugars between your teeth, putting you at risk of cavities because bacteria in your mouth rely on these sugars for survival.
Swap or replace these foods with whole-grain healthy alternatives like red rice and quinoa if possible. Once you consume refined carbohydrates, floss and brush your teeth immediately to ensure the cavity-causing food particles do not linger in your mouth for an extended period. While carbohydrates are crucial nutrients for your body, you should be mindful of their impacts on your dental health.
Ensure you drink plenty of water as you eat your carbs to help rinse away food particles from your mouth immediately and reduce the time the bacteria and sugars work together to produce the cavity-causing acids.
Alcohol
According to studies, alcohol addiction can increase your risk of developing tooth cavities and gum disease. Many do not know it, but alcohol can put you at risk of cavities because it inhibits regular salivation, leading to dry mouth conditions and making it challenging for your body to wash away food that lingers in your mouth.
Wine and beer are also acidic beverages, which can accelerate the erosion process of teeth' enamel, leading to the development of cavities.
Acidic Foods and Drinks
Several other substances can affect your oral and dental health besides sugar. Acidic drinks and foods like citrus fruits and tomatoes can also erode your teeth' enamel over time, increasing the risk of developing cavities. While some foods, like oranges and citrus fruits, are healthy and nutritious, you should make them once-in-a-while treats rather than eating them regularly.
Even brushing your teeth immediately after consuming any acidic food will not eliminate this problem because quick brushing after eating or drinking acidic beverages damages your softened teeth' enamel. The only way to avoid the dental health risks caused by acidic foods is to limit their intake and schedule regular appointments with your dentist to avoid erosion of your teeth's enamel.
Alternatively, consider using a straw to help the drink bypass your teeth when drinking an acidic beverage.
Pickled Foods
Vinegar-rich foods are very acidic and can demineralize and damage your teeth' enamel, leading to cavities. Since vinegar is a crucial part of the pickling procedure, you should eat pickled foods in moderation. When you consume pickled foods, drink plenty of water to wash away any food particles lingering in your mouth.
Coffee
Whether black or sweetened, coffee is naturally acidic, which can wear your teeth enamel, leading to cavities. Coffee also contains tannins, color compounds that stick to the surface of your teeth, affecting the aesthetic of your smile and increasing your risk of developing cavities.
If you cannot substitute or give up your daily cup of coffee, drinking it using a straw and brushing your teeth afterward can help prevent or lower the chances of developing cavities.
Nuts
Aside from being an excellent source of fat and protein, nuts contain added sugar, which puts your teeth at risk of cavities. As mentioned above, bacteria in your mouth feed on these sugars and release acidic excretions, which erode your teeth' enamel, increasing your chances of developing cavities.
Pasta Sauce
Some pasta sauces are high in acid levels and sugar, which create a conducive environment for cavity-causing bacteria to thrive. However, not all pasta sauces are bad for your dental health. Some pasta sauces are less acidic and contain less sugar, making them a better choice for dental health.
Due to the cavity-causing effects of tomato sauces, you should consider replacing them with another healthy alternative, like cheese, if you want to make your spaghetti tasty.
Diet Soda
Although some people think diet soda is a healthy and excellent choice for dental health, that is untrue. Since it is acidic, diet soda can erode your teeth' enamel, increasing your risk of decay and cavities.
While diet soda does not contain real sugar, it has artificial sweeteners like sucralose and aspartame, which can promote the growth of harmful cavity-causing bacteria. Diet soda also weakens your teeth due to its acidity levels, making them more susceptible to damage due to other factors like consuming sugary foods and aggressive brushing.
It is worth noting that these are not the only foods that cause cavities. If you are unsure whether your diet can put you at risk of cavities, you should speak with your dentist to know your options.
How to Prevent Cavities
As mentioned in the previous paragraph, diet choices can negatively affect dental health. Hence, you should have a great diet plan to protect your dental health. Explained below are some of the ways you can prevent or reduce the risk of developing cavities:
Avoid Sipping and Snacking
Saliva is an important fluid in your mouth because it helps wash away food that lingers after eating and remineralizes your teeth, keeping cavities at bay. However, any time you drink or eat, it could take about twenty to thirty minutes for the saliva to accumulate to its protective levels.
That means constant sipping and snacking can cause an imbalance of saliva in your mouth, putting you at risk of cavities and other oral health issues.
Limit Your Alcohol Intake
Like frequent sipping and snacking, drinking alcohol causes an imbalance of saliva in your mouth. Since alcohol can inhibit regular salivation, making it challenging for the body to wash away food particles that linger in your mouth, you should limit its consumption to stay on top of your dental health.
Chew Sugar-free Gum
While technically it is not food, chewing sugar-free gum can increase your saliva flow. As previously mentioned, saliva has an anti-microbial effect that helps fight harmful bacteria in your mouth, preventing or reducing your chances of developing cavities.
Schedule Regular Dental Appointments
While dental hygiene habits like brushing and flossing your teeth daily can help you stay on top of your dental health, sometimes a dentist's intervention will be necessary to remove persistent stains from your teeth.
Aside from providing deep teeth cleaning services, your dentist can help determine whether you are at risk of cavities due to your dietary choices during routine dental check-ups. If so, he/she will let you know foods you can substitute for or add to your diet to protect your dental health.
Three Common Myths About Cavity-Causing Foods
Undoubtedly, what you consume daily can negatively impact your smile's health and aesthetic appearance. However, there are several misconceptions about dietary choices and dental health. Below are three common myths you ought to know about cavity-causing foods:
1. Diet Soda is an Excellent Choice for Your Dental Health than Regular Soda
Several people believe that diet soda is an excellent choice for dental health compared to regular soda because it is sugar-free, but that is untrue. All carbonated drinks, including diet soda, can damage your teeth' enamel, increasing your risk of developing cavities because they contain carbonic acid.
2. Consuming Acidic Foods Can Destroy Your Teeth
Feasting on your favorite acidic beverages and fruits occasionally will not necessarily harm your teeth. However, these foods' acids can wear your teeth' enamel over time, increasing your risk of developing cavities.
Since these acidic drinks, like citrus juice, have other health benefits, you do not have to eliminate them from your diet. Instead, you can prevent its possible impacts on your teeth by drinking it using a straw.
3. Only Sugar Can Cause Tooth Cavities
While sugar is the main cause of tooth cavities among most people, it is not the only culprit. Other foods like rice, bread, potatoes, and beans contain sugars that cause plaque and bacteria to stick to the surface of your teeth, increasing your chances of developing cavities.
Find a Reliable Dentist Near Me
In addition to practicing excellent oral and dental health habits, you should be mindful of your dietary choices because they can also impact your dental health.
Aside from being your go-to dentist when you have a dental emergency, we at Lasting Impressions Dental Spa dedicate adequate time to teaching our patients about nutrition and how their diet choices can impact their dental health.
We invite you to call us at 818-751-5100 if you have a bothersome cavity or have more questions or concerns about foods that cause cavities, wherever you are in Encino.
