"Eating Healthy" But Damaging Your Teeth

Believe it or not, sometimes eating foods that you think are improving your health, may be doing just the opposite. There are so called “healthy” foods and health aids that can be the direct causes of cavities, because many such familiar products have sugar as one of their primary ingredients. Commonly consumed things such as antacids, breath mints, sore throat lozenges and cough drops all contain sugar in one form or another. The sugar will usually be noted in the ingredients as dextrose or corn syrup. These are sugars “disguised” with other nomenclature.

When the bacteria normally found in your mouth reacts to sugar it produces an acid which then eats through tooth enamel. Mints are particularly bad because they remain in your mouth for several minutes during which they produce enough acid to continue doing damage long after the lozenge dissolves away. Lozenges are “held” at the area of the tooth that is usually the thinnest and that allows the damage they do to be even greater.

There are things that you can do to keep your teeth healthy when it comes to “secret” sugars. By choosing sugar-free alternative products and by limiting how many and the length of time that you keep lozenges in your mouth, you'll decrease the potential for cavities. you use a day. Brushing your teeth often, or at the very least rinsing your mouth with water, will help to wash away the sugars.

It’s also important to keep in mind that sodas which are loaded with sugar can also cause serious damage, especially if you sip them throughout the day. Finally, adding to the problem is the fact that more people are drinking bottled water instead of tap water and so getting less protective fluoride.