Happy Thursday Foodies, hope everyone's had a great week so far?? Don't worry the weekend is upon us, only a few hours more and you can settle for that beautiful glass of wine you've been longing for.

Talking about wine, have you ever thought about how good or bad what you eat are? There are some foods that are actually so good for us but at the same time bad for our teeth.

Prevention is the best medicine for your smile, it is better & cheaper to always avoid cavities and stains in your teeth by brushing, flossing and also eating right. The food we eat plays an important role to our health and has a big impact on our teeth. You'll be surprised to see that some things that are classed as "healthy" can be bad for our teeth.

Here's a list of foods bad for your teeth:-

Citrus Fruits and Juices



These are good for you, very rich in Vitamin C & other nutrients but bad for you teeth. Especially Grapefruit & lemon as their highly acidic and can erode your tooth enamel over time. Continue to drink your juices but brush and floss as recommended.

Chewy candy


Now I love love love these especially when I go into supermarkets. Now I'm not a sweetie person but I love the chewy candy, it just has that soft chewiness and sweetness to it lol. OK research shows that the stickier the candy, the worse it is for your teeth. This allows bacteria in our mouths to feast leisurely on the deposited sugar. "Bacteria burns sugar to make acid, which dissolves the protective layer of tooth enamel and causes cavities"- (source:-messina health)


Pickles



Pickles have a sour and salty taste; acid (typically provided by vinegar) is what gives Pickles its taste and also what makes them a potential hazard to tooth enamel. Eating Pickles more than once a day increases the odds of wear of your tooth by 85%.

Fizzy drinks




The worst offenders; not only do they contain an extremely high level of sugar, drinking too many fizzy drinks can breed cavities. Acids found in carbonated soft drinks appear to harm our teeth even more than the sugar. Diet or sugar free fizzy drinks also contain citric and phosphoric acid which can erode your enamel if consumed in large doses.

Tip:- If you cannot do without drinking fizzy, it is best to consume it during a meal rather than sipping it throughout the day as the food will help neutralise the acid and the time of exposure to the acid is much shorter. (source- health.com)

Wine




Red wine contains substances known as chromogens that produce tooth discolouring pigments. The tannins in red wine tend to dry out the moth and male teeth sticky, worsening stains. Not only red wine is bad for your teeth, white wine also contains erosive acid allowing stains from other foods or drinks to penetrate more deeply.
Here's a rule:- "Anything that gets a white cloth stained when spilled is bad for your teeth"

Coffee




Those stubborn brown stains that accumulate on the inside of a coffee mug gives you an idea of how drinking coffee can stain your teeth overtime. Teeth with heavy coffee stains tend to be sticky and apt to attract food particles and bacteria.

Sticky Foods



These are your mouth's worst nightmare. When it comes to picking healthy snacks, people tend to put dried fruits at the top of their list. However these sticky fruits can damage your teeth as they tend to stay on the teeth longer than other types of food. If you love your dried fruits, make sure after eating them you rinse your mouth with water after eating and also brush and floss carefully.

Ice



I'm sure you're probably thinking, ice is made up of water and water is good for you and doesn't contain any sugar or additives etc. You'd be surprised that chewing on hard substances like ice can leave your teeth vulnerable to a dental emergency and damaged enamel.
Advice:- Break the habit and enjoy water in its liquid form

Have a good week :-)