It’s an odd reminder from a dentist…and we know we can’t ask you to give up candy, but we can offer some advice and tips to take care of your teeth.
How does eating candy or any sugar affect our teeth?
We all have bacteria in our mouth that can potentially cause cavities. These harmful bacteria, when exposed to sugar produce acid as a by-product. This acid attacks your teeth by weakening the enamel causing decay and cavities to form. Hence, continual snacking of sugar-containing foods subjects your teeth to continuous acid attacks, increasing your risks for tooth decay.
What is the Solution?
The American Dental Association (ADA) offers the following tips to help reduce tooth decay
1. Choose Candy Carefully. Harder and stickier candies, like gummies and taffy stick to your teeth and take longer to get washed away by saliva, increasing the risk for tooth decay.
2. Avoid soda, sports drinks and flavored waters. They offer the same risk as candy but when carbonated and acidic due to its ingredients, the risk of tooth decay is increased.
Instead of snacking and sipping all day, the ADA recommends eating candy and drinking sugary beverages with meals. Saliva production increases during a meal, rinsing food particles from the mouth and neutralizing plaque acid which helps prevent tooth decay.
3. Consider chewing ADA Accepted sugarless gum after meals. Certain sugarless gums have earned the ADA Seal of Acceptance for scientifically proving that chewing the gum for 20 minutes after meals helped prevent tooth decay
4. Floss once a day, brush for 2-minutes twice a day with a fluoridated toothpaste. This helps remineralize your teeth from acid attacks. But wait..When acidic candies, or acidic sports beverages, fruits, etc. are consumed, brushing right after eating is damaging to enamel. Instead, set a timer for 30 minutes and brush after it goes off.
5. Drink plenty of water to rinse food particles from the mouth, and neutralize plaque acid, minimizing risk of decay. If you eat sugary foods and can’t brush immediately afterward, rinse your mouth with water. In fact, drinking optimally fluoridated water has been shown to reduce cavities from 20 to 40 percent.
6. Visit your dentist regularly. Preventive and early intervention can help prevent or lessen the complications of tooth decay and other oral infections. Call us at 678.890.2555 or click here to request your appointment.