Acid Erosion! Learn How to Avoid It.

The main focus of dieting for dental health tends to be to avoid sugar. However, it is also very important to limit the amount of acidic foods and drinks in your diet in order to protect your teeth from erosion. Access Dental and Dentures is has the best dental clinics in southern Missouri, and we are here to help identify some common foods and drinks that may be causing acid erosion of your tooth enamel. We also have some great tips to help you know if this is happening to you, and how to prevent it. Keep reading to learn more!

Acidic Drinks

Soda

Carbonated drinks are notorious bad for your health. Not only are they full or artificial flavors and coloring, they also contain a significant amount of harmful sugars and acid. The acid in soda is incredibly harmful to teeth and makes regular and diet soda equally as bad for your dental health. Instead of ordering soda at the restaurant, try replacing it with water or another less-acidic beverage.

Juice

Juice might seem healthy because it comes from fruit, but it can actually be deceiving. Juice from the grocery store is concentrated and high in sugar and acidity. Instead of drinking a glass of apple juice, try eating fresh apple slices to give yourself a boost without the adding calories, sugar, and tooth-destroying acid. 

Food & Other Acid Sources

Citrus

Citrus fruits (lemons, limes, oranges, grapefruit, etc.) can have a lot of overall health benefits, but they are also very high in acid. This acid can erode the enamel on your teeth, causing them to be sensitive and more prone to cavities. To get the health benefits of these fruits without causing too much damage to your teeth, try drinking water when you eat them. Drinking water can help to wash away some of the acid so your teeth aren't exposed for as long.

Sweets

Who doesn't love treating themselves every once in a while? While some treats are okay in moderation, an excessive amount of sweets is very bad for your teeth. Sour candy can be particularly bad because of the high levels of acid used to make that sour taste. Sugar itself is bad enough, but it can also cause more issues by providing food to acid-creating bacteria in your mouth.

Stomach Acid

This is clearly an acid that you want to avoid. If you get frequent upset stomachs or acid reflux, then your enamel could be suffering from erosion due to the additional exposure to acid. If you suffer from these conditions, it is important to seek professional, medical help.

Signs of Erosion

If you consume a lot of acidic foods and drinks as part of your diet, then you could be on the path to some serious dental issues. Check out these signs and symptoms to see if your enamel may already be experiencing erosion. 

• Tooth Sensitivity - Hot, cold, and overly sweet items will cause tooth pain.
• Discoloration - Teeth will become more and more yellow.
• Rounding - Teeth may start to look rounded as corners wear away.
• Transparent Teeth - Teeth might start looking somewhat see-through, especially at the edges.
• Cracks & Cupping - Small cracks and dents may appear on your teeth.

How to Prevent Erosion

To help protect your teeth from acid erosion, try following some of these great tips: 

• RINSE with water when you eat or drink something acidic.
• SIP through a straw so that acidic drinks have less contact with your teeth.
• LIMIT sugar intake so that acid-creating bacteria won't thrive in your mouth. 
• WAIT to brush your teeth. Brushing right after consuming something acidic will scrub the acid into your teeth even more. 
• NEUTRALIZE acidic foods and drinks with foods that are on the basic end of the acidity spectrum.
• WEAKEN drinks that are highly acidic, like juice, by watering them down so they're less intense.
• VISIT the dentist. Regularly visiting the dentist's office for checkups is important to make sure your teeth aren't becoming eroded. 

Your Local Dentist

If you are concerned about the health or strength of your teeth, give Access Dental and Dentures a call. We would love to help educate you on what can help improve your dental health, as well as provide a cleaning and check-up to keep your teeth as healthy as possible. Call today!

We want to be your dentist because your family deserves a great smile! 

1-877-DENTIST

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Stained Teeth - What to Avoid and How to Fight It!

There are a lot of ways to help keep your mouth healthy and happy. It's important to brush your teeth at least twice a day and floss regularly as part of your dental care routine. But there are also a few extra tips you can follow to improve your oral health, like avoiding or limiting items that can stain your teeth. Access Dental and Dentures is the best dentist in southern Missouri and we have the inside tips on how to help protect your teeth from stains. Read on to learn more! 

Dark Berries

Berries are full of flavor and can help give the rest of your body an immune boost. However, it can also cause lasting stains on your teeth due to the dark pigments that they contain. If pieces are stuck or left behind, they can continue to cause even darker stains as they sit there. 

Acidic Foods

Not all acidic food cause stains, but the high acid content in them can wear away your enamel, making teeth weaker and more susceptible to stains. Foods that are high in acid content and also stain causing are particularly harmful. One example would be tomato sauce. Tomatoes contain a lot of acid and also can cause significant stains due to their pigmentation. 

Hard Candies

Candies that contain a lot of artificial dyes can be harmful. If it stains your tongue, it can also stain your teeth. Chew-able candy still isn't healthy for your teeth, but hard candies are typically held in your mouth for longer periods of time. This extended contact with your teeth gives the sugars and dye more time to cause damage. 

Your Daily Coffee

Coffee is a fairly acidic drink and can cause dark stains. Most of us have had a little mishap with coffee and had to face the stained consequences. Imagine what drinking coffee every day could do to your teeth over time. If you drink your coffee with milk, it could lessen the resulting stains somewhat because milk is more basic and can help reduce the acidic content of the beverage. Milk also has a high calcium content which can help strengthen teeth. Just make sure you aren't using a creamer with high sugar content. This will actually weaken your teeth, making them more susceptible to stains.

Red & White Wines

Red wine contains tannins that can stain teeth. We know that red wine is a powerful stain-causing agent to clothes and tablecloths, so it makes sense that it can also cause dark stains on our teeth. White wine is not necessarily safe, however. While it isn't darkly pigmented, it does have a high acidic content that can damage teeth and lead to discoloration. 

Sodas

It's not just darkly-colored sodas that can stain teeth. Soda, in general, contains a huge amount of sugar and acid that erode enamel. Without this protective covering, your teeth are much more susceptible to stains setting in at a deep level.

How to Prevent Stains

Other than avoiding these items completely, which can be difficult, Access Dental has some great tips to help keep your teeth brighter and healthier! If you do eat or drink something acidic or stain-causing, drink a full glass of water afterward. This can help rinse away the stain causing materials and fortify your teeth with fluoride from the water. Using a straw is another great way to help limit stains, as it keeps the stain-causing beverage away from your teeth.

Your Missouri Dentist

Access Dental and Dentures is the best dentist in the Springfield area. If you are struggling to maintain a healthy, bright smile, contact us to set up an appointment! We can help by checking your oral health and making a plan to help improve it. We also have great, convenient whitening services that you can use at home for complete and safe teeth whitening. We can't wait to work with you!

We want to be your dentist because your family deserves a great smile! 

1-877-DENTIST

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How These Drink Favorites Could be Harmful to Teeth

Drinking soda, enjoying a juice or coffee in the morning, and sipping a glass of wine with dinner are all habits that can be quite common in our culture. While most people know that soda and alcohol aren't particularly good influences on health, they may not realize how many drink favorites could actually be harming their teeth. At Access Dental and Dentures, we care about your health and want to help keep your pearly whites in good condition. Read on to learn more about the common drinks that could be damaging your teeth, and come visit the best Springfield area dentists for your fall check-up!

Soda

Carbonated drinks already have a pretty bad reputation when it comes to health. Because of their acidic and sugary nature, sodas can be incredibly harmful to your teeth. The acidity in soda can actually be the bigger issue. Both diet and regular sodas can do the same amount of damage to the enamel protecting your teeth. For that reason, it is best to avoid drinking soda.

Juice

Some individuals believe that juice has a lot of health benefits. Some "old wives' tales" say that cranberry juice helps with infections, or that orange juice can help stave off a virus. While the vitamins and minerals may be helpful in some respects, the concentrated acidity and sugar content are not doing your teeth any favors. Because fruit juices are concentrated, they are much more acidic than eating a piece of fruit on its own.

Tea and Coffee

While tea and coffee are both somewhat acidic, they aren't particularly detrimental on their own. Green tea can actually be beneficial for your gums, and black coffee may help prevent cavities. The problem with coffee and tea comes in when you add sugar and creamer. Sweet iced tea has a high sugar content that can be very damaging to the enamel on your teeth. Sugary creamers and artificial flavorings in coffee can also be harmful to the health of your teeth.

Alcohol

Alcoholic beverages can dry out your mouth and cause a lack of sufficient saliva. Saliva is helpful and important in washing away bacteria and preventing tooth decay. If your mouth is too dry, saliva cannot properly do its job. Contrary to popular belief, white wine may actually be worse for your teeth than red wine. While red wine can cause surface stains, white wine is more acidic than red and can cause permanent enamel damage.

Sparkling Water

This being on the list may surprise people! Sparkling water is actually quite acidic and erosive, which could be very bad for your teeth. In fact, the level of acidity in sparkling water matches and sometimes exceeds the acidity in orange juice.

How to Help Minimize Damage

If you do choose to keep these popular drinks as part of your diet, there are a few ways you can try to help limit the damage they do to your teeth.

1. Use a Straw - Drinking through a straw can help minimize the amount of contact the drink has with your teeth, and thereby help reduce potential damage.
2. Don't Sip - If you're drinking something acidic, don't sip on it throughout the day. This lengthens the amount of time your teeth are exposed to harmful materials. 
3. Wait, then Brush - After you have one of these acidic drinks, wait about 30 minutes and then brush your teeth. Brushing immediately could scrub the acidic substances into your teeth, furthering the damage.   
4. Diluting the Drink - For some of these drinks, it could be helpful to dilute them with 50% water. This will reduce the amount of acid and sugar that come in contact with your teeth.  
5. Visit Your Dentist - Regular visits to the dentist's office for checkups can help keep your enamel strong and catch any issues before they get too serious. 

Access Dental is the best Springfield area dentist, and we care about your oral health. We would love to help you take care of your teeth! Call 1-877-DENTIST today to schedule your appointment. 

We want to be your dentist because your family deserves a great smile! 

1-877-DENTIST

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