Having good dental hygiene and general oral health is important if you want to remain healthy and also, look great. Apart from visiting your dentist regularly, another very significant part of keeping healthy teeth is having a balanced diet and avoiding foods/drinks which could damage them. There are a few types of foods and drinks that we need to avoid if we want to keep our oral health on point, and we will focus on those in the rest of this article.

1. Candy

Sweets, especially candy, are known to include a whole lot of sugar, and that attracts bacteria. The bacteria will feed on the sugar that remains within your teeth and thus create acids which will target the enamel. The process will continue constantly throughout the day, which means that if you don’t brush at least twice a day, chances are that your teeth not only will get stains, but will also be damaged in the process. This is why, although it can be difficult, you need to avoid eating candy and instead go with snacks such as yogurt, raw vegetables or cheese. Sweets that include xylitol are also helpful, and they might be a good alternative if you don’t want to give up candy consumption.

2. Ketchup and Pickles

All types of food containing acid are rather bad for your teeth because they can open the pores in your teeth which means they will easily stain them, and that’s something that needs to be avoided at all cost. In time, these stains can get darker, with the potential of bringing a lot of damage as time passes.

3. Wine

Many of us drink wine, but only a few know that this drink is actually very dangerous for our teeth, since prolonged exposure to the erosive acid included in wine can soften the tooth enamel and, although some say differently, in time it can lead to other, major complications. On top of that, the wine compounds can dry out the mouth alongside staining the teeth.

4. Dried Fruit

Believe it or not, but the dried fruits are filled with sugar and they are quite sticky as well, which means that they get stuck between your teeth. As you can imagine, this can cause a lot of damage in time as it feeds the bacteria.

5. Sugary Drinks

Sweet soda drinks are perhaps one of the worst things for your teeth. Not only they include a ton of sugar, which is not far from bacteria’s heaven, but they can also stain the teeth. The temperature of soda can also be a significant factors as very cold (or very hot) soda can open up the pores in your teeth making them more vulnerable to staining. Additionally, the phosphoric and citric acids in the drink erodes tooth enamel, and the sweeteners promote tooth decay.

In conclusion, these are the 5 worst foods/drinks for your teeth. It’s very important to stay away from them because they can be quite harmful, especially if you consume them often. Instead, try to opt for  foods your teeth would love, such as apples, cucumbers, onion, cheese, ginger, pineapple, salmon or anything similar as these will help you maintain your oral hygiene healthy.

Article provided by Harvey Kalsi of Wisdom Dental. ©2014 All Rights Reserved.