Foods That Are Healthy (But Bad For Your Teeth)

Posted by: Charlie Burrows

We are all told to eat more healthily, with more fruit and vegetables in our diet, as well as fibre, “good fats” and carbs for energy, and to cut back on sugary treats and fatty foods. However, it’s not as straightforward as healthy food equals good food and certainly, healthy food does not mean it’s good for your teeth and in fact some healthier foods can be some of the worst for your dental health.

 

Food and Drink Your Teeth Should Avoid

 

Citrus Fruits

Fruit such as Oranges and Apples are great from a health perspective but they are certainly a problem for teeth. The citrus effect can create a sugar rush in the mouth and although they are natural sugars (as opposed to refined) they are still contributing to the sugar consumption and they can strip enamel from the teeth just as much as refined sugar, over time. So curbing the amount of fruit is worth considering for dental health, including dried fruits which can contain even more sugar.

 

Red Wine

As with any drink that contains sugar, there is a risk that they can affect your teeth and those particularly tricky drinks include red wine which not only contain huge amounts of sugar, but also stain the enamel on your teeth more than many other drinks. There are some arguments that state red wine is worse than coffee. Sugar and acid hurt the gum line but especially hurt the enamel on your teeth.

 

White Bread

Who would have thought that out of so many foods, white bread would be problematic for teeth? It’s understandable that crusty bread could be a problem but generally white bread contains sugar and because it is thicker and “stickier” than brown bread (which is more coarse and is healthier overall due to its fibre content) it can create pockets of bacteria and cause problems in the long term.

 

Ice

Although you couldn’t class it as food, it’s technically frozen water and realistically it can be very harmful to your teeth. Some people crunch ice and this doesn’t do your teeth any good at all. The cold nature of ice can unfortunately affect sensitive teeth but also crack and chip enamel away over time. It’s just not recommended.

 

Nuts

Healthy nuts and trail mix for instance, are great for providing healthy fats however, from a dental standpoint, they are problematic because of the hard shell and crunching involved. This abrasiveness can damage teeth.

We all know that chocolate and sodas and many other sugary foods and drinks are bad for us in large quantities and so it’s recommended to steer clear in order to maintain a healthy mouth, but we never really think about the impact relatively healthy foods can have and the fact is, some foods and drinks are just damaging over time, for the future of your teeth.

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