The Six Foods That Damage Your Teeth the Most
If you’re anything like me, you won’t like being told what you can and can’t eat but the truth is that if you want to keep your pearly whites…well, pearly and white then you need to be mindful of what you are putting them through. Brushing your teeth two or three times a day is great but it isn’t always enough to keep them looking the way you want them to.
We can often feel very self-conscious about our teeth and it can severely damage your self-esteem if you don’t feel confident about your smile, and so with that in mind here are a few things you should probably avoid in large quantities.
1.  Crisps –
When we think of food substances that are harmful to our teeth we often only pay attention to the sugary and chewy varieties but excessive amounts of crisps could be far worth for your oral health. Crisps can easily become lodged between teeth and therefore if you are not flossing regularly then they could be hanging around for days leading to a harmful build-up of plague.
2.  Lemonade –
It’s not just food that you should be looking out for either as sugary carbonated drinks can also be enemies of your enamel. We usually think of coloured drinks such as Coca-Cola and orangeade as the worst offenders but research actually shows that clear fizzy drinks are worse due to the their higher levels of acid.
3.  Sour Sweets –
It’s no surprise that sweets are on the list but there are some kinds that are worse than others. Fans of sour sweets that make you pull that funny face when you eat them will be interested to know that these go above and beyond other types of candy in the teeth damaging stakes and once again it’s down to their acidity.
4.  Apples –
It’s confusingly ironic that the foods which are labelled as good for us are those that can cause the most problems to our oral health and apples are a prime example. In the past dentists have even advocated the eating of apples as they help you to produce saliva that can wash away harmful bacteria but new studies show that the fact consumers have developed more than one sweet tooth has resulted in our apples now having up to four teaspoons of sugar in them.
5.  Fruit Yoghurt –
You could be excused for thinking that fruit on the whole has it in for our teeth when you realise which other fruit based items can have a negative impact on your dental health. But whilst five a day is usually attributed to the amount of fruit and veg we should eat; consuming too much acidic fruit may result in it referring to the number of times you visit your local dental surgery. In this case the acidity of the fruit reacts with the milk in the yoghurt to cause enamel erosion.
6.  Sports Drinks –
Like me, anyone who likes to keep fit will have probably had their fair share of sports drinks in the past. However whilst these will (arguably) give you a boost when you most need it, they could be pushing your teeth towards a cardiac arrest. The high sugar quantities and amounts of acidity in some brands and flavours will rapidly increase the rate of decay and erosion even after just a few days.
