Last updated: Sunday, November 11, 2007 | 10 Views
“Every tooth in a man’s head is more valuable than a diamond.”
- Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote, 1605
No one wants to have nasty breath, or big dental bills. Nonetheless, there are several very common habits that can produce both of those unpleasant results. And they can also leave your smile looking more Austin Powers than Christie Brinkley.
Should your looks, breath and bank balance not be enough motivation to break those tooth-busting habits, maintaining your overall health should be. While the exact mechanism remains unclear, studies have shown links between bacteria in the mouth and heart disease and diabetes. It’s about bacterial load — if you’re fighting bacteria in your mouth, you have fewer resources to fight other things in your body.
Here are the six most common tooth-defying blunders and how you can avoid them:
1. Tough Love
If you adore chewy or sticky treats like taffy, Starburst candies, Skittles, Tootsie Rolls or even gnawing on those unpopped popcorn kernels or ice, beware. That’s one of the best ways to stuff a long-lasting chunk of tooth-rotting bacteria into a hard-to-clean spot inside your mouth, or even to crack a tooth.
With all the sugar in sticky candy, even a tiny piece is like a siren song to bacteria. Ice, peanut brittle and popcorn kernels are also a problem for teeth. Ice and tooth enamel are both crystals. When you push two crystals against each other, the weaker one will break. Most of the time that’s the ice, but occasionally the teeth will break.
2. Constant Coffee Baths
Take a look around any office building or car interior and you’re likely to see desks and cup-holders littered with giant coffee or soda cups. Americans, particularly office workers, have a tendency to sip and snack all day. Not only do coffee and tea tend to stain your teeth, but if you’re drinking milky, sweet coffee or soda, you’re creating a mini-health hazard in your mouth.
Consuming carbohydrates, particularly sugars, activates the acid-producing bacteria that live on the surface of your teeth. Every time the bacteria get active they produce more acid, and that just causes more decay. So, refrain from snacking or sipping drinks all day to reduce the amount of sugars these bacteria are burning.
3. Dessert Without Dinner
Many of us are eating our cake — or cupcake or muffin — as a snack rather than an after-meal treat. If you don’t have the willpower to cut sweet treats and sodas out of your diet (and most of us don’t), then try to consume them as part of a main meal, when the decay-causing bacteria are already working. That way you limit your exposure to the bacteria to just a couple of times per day, rather than having them constantly active.
If you can’t eat a whole meal, eating a small piece of hard cheese after a meal can be good for your teeth. First of all, cheese has calcium in it, and hard cheeses have been shown to neutralize the pH levels in your mouth. That means your mouth is less acidic, and therefore less prone to tooth decay.
4. Produce Avoidance
We all know fruits and veggies are good for your figure and can prevent disease. But avoiding them has oral consequences, too. Fruits and vegetables contain vitamins that are particularly important for your gums, helping prevent infections that may cause gums to become inflamed or bleed. You can see the effect of malnutrition on gums almost immediately.
5. Water Deprivation
Everyone seems to be carrying a bottle of water lately, but most of us don’t know that one of the most tooth-friendly times you can drink water is after you eat.
A glass of water after a meal will wash away food particles and some bacteria, and generally clean the mouth. But, unlike most beverages, it won’t introduce new sugars to your mouth or fattening calories to your system. Plus, water can help you feel full and stick to a weight-loss regime.
6. Gumming up the Works
Maybe you just can’t shake that addiction to the little shock of sweet that comes with that first chomp of sugary gum, but try a little harder. Giving your teeth a regular sucrose shower, even with a tiny slice of gum, is a fabulous way to promote tooth decay.
On the other hand, chewing sugar-free gum has all kinds of benefits. It increases the production of saliva, which is your body’s natural mechanism for washing away food and neutralizing acid.
Austin Powers may have randy wit and skill with the ladies, but his teeth are gross. And with the amazing advancements made in dental care, yours don’t have to look as unfortunate as his. Brushing regularly, visiting your dentist at least once a year, and cutting down on poor oral habits like smoking and improper brushing will help you smile brightly for years to come.
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Great tips Ririan, those are some excellent tips that I hope to actually apply. I have some nasty dentures and I hate dentists, so It’s better to take care of your teeth by yourself, as best as you can.
CORN NUTS have done me in twice. Never again.
I recently finished a two step process of receiving 6 dental implants. As a veteran of the tooth decay wars, as someone who is afraid to add up all the money he has spent for dentistry, and as someone who wishes he had been more careful about avoiding the bad habits mentioned here (particularly the sweet tooth), I can say to all young readers of this blog entry, PAY ATTENTION AND FOLLOW THIS ADVICE!
[...] 好好保护我们的牙齿 [...]
Scooby Snacks. Never, ‘pre-chew’ a dog treat. Chiuahuahua teeth CAN handle it, people teeth can’t.
6. Gum
Trident and other xylitol-containing gums are actually EVEN BETTER than other types of sugar-free gum.
They contain xylitol, a wood sugar which has been shown to kill bacteria.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xylitol#Dental_care
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