Smiles are contagious and inevitable to these brighter smiles are healthier teeth and gums. If your gums are not doing fine, your otherwise healthy teeth can become mobile and eventually fall off.
To ensure protection of your gums and preserve that great smile you already have, you must avoid these five foods.
1. White bread
White bread has become a staple breakfast in urban households for being convenient. But this little convenience can bring a lot of inconvenience in the long run.
Bread contains refined carbohydrates that are way stickier than non-refined ones and are capable of escaping your otherwise optimum oral hygiene practices. These sugars become plaque, later calculus and destroy your gums over a period of time. Bran or multi-grain breads are healthier alternatives to white bread. Their fiber content poses friction to the tooth surface upon chewing, resulting in self-cleansing of the same.
2. Pizza
Who does not love a freshly baked pizza, right out of the oven? But be careful! This yummy treat can give you pizza burns and scar you for life. Pizza burns are minor blisters on the gums and palate right behind your upper incisors that are caused by biting an extremely hot pizza slice. Although the nature of the injury is not serious and it heals itself perfectly over the span of the next few days, it remains mildly uncomfortable during eating. A little topical anesthetic will do for the pain, but taking a little caution, the next time you are having a steaming hot pizza will do even better!
3. Ice creams/candies
Well, we all know the amount of sugar that goes in there! Frequent consumption of ice creams and candies can take a toll on your gums as these sticky sugars adhere to tooth surface near gums and
become a bacterial reservoir, triggering inflammatory response. Inflammation is the body’s response to kill bacteria, but during its due course it also disintegrates normal gum tissue. A long standing inflammation can weaken gums. As the supporting apparatus of teeth wears off, teeth become mobile
and may fall off.
4. Sodas and Energy drinks
Sodas and energy drinks are high in caffeine. Caffeine has been shown to decrease saliva production resulting in a dry mouth. Saliva is a miraculous substance in the oral cavity which not only helps us chew
better, but also physically flushes cariogenic substances actively from the mouth. It also has antibodies
that fight off bacterial toxins, helping us achieve optimum teeth and gum health. As caffeine in sodas and energy drinks messes up salivary flow, it puts an end to all the perks coming with it, and results are often not very favorable. Excessive consumption of sodas and energy drinks leads to advanced gum disease that can result in gum recession, wobbly teeth and eventual tooth loss.
5. Fruit Juices
Fruits are no doubt a great source of vitamins and fiber. And we all know how important vitamin C is to
humans. Although humans have learned this the hard way- think of all those voyagers who lost their lives to scurvy. But fruit juices are not a very impressive idea, as they are concentrated fruit sugars devoid of all the good fiber that fruit had in the first place. Oral flora feasts on these abundant sugars and breakdown soft tissue apparatus around teeth, in addition to the cavities they cause. So munching on whole fruit, instead of fruit juice, seems a better idea.
Along with these ‘don’ts’ there are a few doꞌs that will surely help with your gum health.
Eat fruits that are rich in fiber, and eat them the right way. Next time you are having an apple or a guava, bite it off instead of slicing it into pieces and eating it with a fork, as this stimulates periodontal ligaments around your teeth, resulting in stronger teeth and gums. Stay hydrated and don’t forget to brush twice daily.
