In addition to regular oral hygiene, maintaining a healthy diet can ensure that your teeth remain strong and healthy well into your old age. In addition to making sure you eat foods that help keep your teeth strong, you should also avoid foods that can damage, stain, or weaken your teeth. Acidic foods are a major culprit in enamel damage, so you should be careful to avoid them when possible.
Why Are Acidic Foods Bad for My Teeth?
Acid, whether found in food or beverages, is a major culprit in dental damage. In fact, the acid created in the waste products of bacteria is what causes teeth to decay. If you eat or drink highly acidic foods or beverages, you can cause long-term damage to your teeth.
Some foods that are highly acidic include:
- Citrus fruits
- Sour candies
- Citrus juices
- Carbonated soda
Citrus fruits and fruit juices offer important vitamins, so it’s important not to cut them out completely. However, if you eat highly acidic fruits like lemons very regularly, they can cause damage to your enamel. Sour candies and carbonated soda are not only highly acidic but also have a high sugar content, which also contributes to tooth decay.
Maintaining a Diet to Keep Your Teeth Healthy
To ensure your teeth remain strong and healthy, you should eat a well-rounded diet that includes dairy products to provide calcium for your teeth. Calcium and other minerals such as potassium can actually help your body repair very minor damage to your teeth before it has a chance to develop into tooth decay. A healthy diet also helps strengthen your immune system, which lowers your risk of developing gum disease.
Although it’s all right to indulge every once in a while, it’s best to avoid foods that serve as the main culprits of decay. This includes sugary or sticky foods, beverages that are high in sugar, and foods with a high acid content. Maintaining your oral health with a good diet and regular hygiene can help you keep your teeth well into old age and avoid having to visit our prosthodontist to replace missing teeth.
If you do need our help, don’t hesitate to call our team at Dakota Prosthodontics & Implant Center.
