Dental Questions: Can eating fruit harm your teeth?

Fruits and vegetables are often hailed as the healthiest parts of a balanced diet. They bring vitamins, minerals and antioxidants to almost every dish, while avoiding harmful fats and oils. However, since many fruits are acidic and high in sugars, they can be potentially harmful to your teeth.

As with all foods, the quantity and quality of the fruit you eat doesn't matter as much as the duration in which it is consumed. The bacteria in your mouth don't care if it's organic and natural or processed and preserved. To them, sugar is sugar. As such, the best way you can modify the bacteria's response is to limit the time that your teeth are exposed to carbohydrates.

Every time we eat or drink our mouths turn to an acidic state for 30 minutes. During this period, dental enamel becomes softened and prone to decay. In this sense, someone who eats every 30 minutes spends nearly the entire day damaging their teeth. This is why snacking on apple slices all day is more harmful than eating a single candy bar immediately after a meal (in a strictly dental sense).  

Another factor you can control is the consistency of the foods you eat. Sticky and dry fruits like raisins can be much more harmful than something crisp and moist like pear or apple. This is particularly true in children, who don't have a natural tendency to pick food out of their teeth. 

In total, fruit makes an excellent healthy snack, but must be enjoyed in moderation. Realize that it still contains acids and sugars that fuel the tooth decay process. As with any sweet food, we recommend keeping snacking on fruits to a minimum and sticking to eating only at mealtime. If you must snack, make sure that you are cleaning your teeth of any residual food and rinsing with water when you're finished. If you have any more questions on diets, tooth decay and cavity prevention, please give our office a call!

Refreshing Drinks and Tooth Decay

As summer draws to an end, we are caught at an in-between time of refreshing iced teas and back-to-school coffees. No matter what the season, it's easy to get stuck in a habit of sipping on something sweet and flavorful. Unfortunately, this is the exact pattern that leads to increased risk of tooth decay and cavities. 

While many think of dental decay as a childhood disease, it can most certainly affect teenagers and adults. The problem almost always extends from dietary choices. Every time we eat or drink anything other than water, our mouths become acidic for a 30 minute period. During this time, enamel is softened and more susceptible to bacterial attack. If you sip on sugary drinks all day, your mouth practically lives in this weakened state. This is why soft drinks are particularly detrimental to oral health. Commonly known as "Mountain Dew Mouth" these sweet and acidic beverages leave a telltale pattern of decay and staining in patients' mouths. 

If you're interested in cutting back on the dental damage done by your drink choices, there are a number of things you can do. First and foremost, try to avoid any drinks that contain sugar (sucrose, fructose, glucose, etc.). Even it it's naturally sweetened or organic, sugared beverages are never a good idea. Furthermore, you can cut back on the contact between your teeth and the beverage using a straw. This also works great for keeping heavily pigmented drinks away from freshly whitened teeth. Finally, rinsing with water after finishing your other beverage can help clear away any residual sugars before they cause damage. 

As you can see, small alterations to your diet can have a serious impact on your dental health. By keeping sugary foods and drinks to a minimum, you can spare yourself from extra dental work. If you would like to know more about how to adjust your diet for optimum dental health, please give our office a call!