Hi, everyone and welcome to another “Tooth Time”.
I’m your host, Dr. Howard Schneider – the Pediatric Dentist in Huntington Village.
There is a saying “You are what you eat”. That is certainly true when it comes to the health of your teeth and smile.
Today we’re going to talk about what foods are good for your teeth and what foods are bad for your teeth.
If you ask, most people will tell you that eating sweet, sugary things are bad for your teeth. You know what… They are right.
The germs that help make cavities love to eat sweet, sugary things more than anything else. But that is only part of the story.
The truth is that given enough time, these germs can eat almost any food, and when they do, they turn that food into acid that make cavities. So even if a food is not sweet, if it sticks to your teeth for a long enough time, cavities will be the result.
So let’s look at some foods.
The worst foods for your teeth are ones that are both sweet and sticky. These include:
- Fruit snacks and fruit rollups
- gummy bears
- candy
- and raisons and other dried fruits
These foods provide really easy energy for tooth decay germs.
Does that mean you should never eat these things? Of course not, after all they can be fun to eat. But this does mean you should not eat them every day or even every week, just at special occasions.
The next worst foods for your teeth are things that are not sweet, but that stick to your teeth for a long time. This includes foods like:
- potato chips
- Corn chip
- cookies
- and goldfish crackers
While these kinds of foods are not sweet they can stick around for a long time.
Potato chips can actually stick to your teeth for over an hour. That’s plenty of time for tooth decay germs to start making cavities.
Next up are sweet foods that wash off your teeth easily.
This includes things like:
- chocolate
- Jell-O
- milk
- and juice
While these foods do contain a lot of sugar, they don’t usually stay on your teeth for a long enough time to cause a problem.
Sorry, No, that doesn’t mean you can eat chocolate all day. If you did that there would never enough time for the chocolate to wash off your teeth and the cavity germs would love that. But if you do compare a chocolate bar to a bag of chips, the chocolate is better for your teeth then the chips are.
The very best and healthiest foods for both your teeth and the rest of your body are natural foods.
This includes foods such as:
- real fruits like apples, watermelon, bananas, oranges, and strawberries
- vegetables like carrots, cucumbers, and celery
- and foods like chicken, turkey,
- meat
- and fish
These foods contain all of the important nutrients your body needs to stay healthy and they do not usually stick to your teeth.
So, when it comes to keeping your teeth healthy – foods that are sweet or sticky are the worst, and foods that are natural and not sticky are the best. If you do have something sweet or sticky you can help prevent cavities from forming by brushing your teeth as soon as possible after eating.
I hope I’ve given you some ideas about how to decide which foods are tooth healthy and which foods are not, and I look forward to seeing all of your wonderful smiles at your next visit to the office.
In the meantime keep eating those tooth healthy foods and I’ll see you all next time, on Tooth Time.
