Certain foods affect your dental health positively while others do so negatively. Not sure which? Ask your Tampa dentist for some advice. Although it’s quite challenging to only eat foods that are good for you, most people are successful at minimizing the amount of bad foods they consume. Here’s a list of five bad foods to avoid for the sake of your teeth and for the peace of mind for your Tampa dentist.
Tampa Dentist Advice Avoid These Food For Sake of Your Teeth
- Candy: Your local Tampa dentist’s worst nightmare. When it comes to bad food for your teeth, candy is one of the worst culprits. Unless it’s labeled as sugar-free, you can expect your candy to be packed with sugar. As you’ve learned from previous blogs, consuming large quantities of sugar creates more bacteria in your mouth, leaving your teeth susceptible to a cavity. Sticky, chewy, sour and hard candies should all be avoided whenever possible.
- Dried Fruits:There’s no denying that fruit is a better snack option than most of the foods we reach for, but there is a major difference between dried fruit and fresh fruit. While the fresh variety contains natural sugars, dried fruit receives additional sugars as it’s dehydrated. Additionally, this type of snack is often sticky. Overly sticky foods are hard to remove from your teeth and can cause broken or chipped teeth. It happens more often than you’d think.
- Potato Chips: Aside from being a nutrition-less snack, potato chips are filled with starch. As you chomp on each chip, it’s starchy texture dissolves into a mush which becomes easily trapped in the areas between your teeth. If you can’t stay away from this crunchy snack, it’s essential to follow a proper dental hygiene routine to remove the extra plaque it will inevitably cause.
- White Bread/Rice/Pasta: Processed carbohydrates strike again! Much like potato chips, white bread, rice and pasta consists of refined carbohydrates. These bad carbs expertly eliminate any beneficial fiber that was once present. Furthermore, as these foods mix with your saliva they create a gummy texture that is hard to remove from your teeth.
- Pickles: The problem with pickles is their high acid content. It does not react well with your tooth enamel. Keep in mind that if you’re eating one or two pickles as part of a bigger, the other foods you consume alongside them will help to minimize the negative effects.
Whether we like to admit it, there are certain foods which are bad for our teeth. If your goal is to take better care of your teeth, do your best to limit your consumption of the foods on this list. Whenever you do partake in a super sugary or highly acidic snack, be sure to follow it with a big glass of water to help rinse away errant bacteria! If you’re feeling particularly motivated, a quick floss and brush of your teeth can do wonders as well!
