As a parent, it can be tough trying to take care of everyone. Your family looks to you for help in staying healthy. That’s why what you don’t know can hurt you — and them. Call us today at our Bridgeport/Trumbull dental office (203-372-1220) or our Shelton dental office (203-378-9737) and schedule a family dentistry appointment. Then look around your house for several drinks that could hurt your family’s teeth.
What Everyone Family Should Be Doing
When it comes to your family’s dental health, there are many things you can be doing at home to help.
- Brush in the morning and evening.
- Floss every night before bed.
- Only eat candy and dessert on rare occasions.
- Drink plenty of water.
- Make healthy choices at meals (such as more protein and less carbs)
Even if your children follow these to the letter, they still need regular dental cleanings and dental exams.
- Skilled and well-trained dental hygienists like ours can get rid of plaque and tartar that regular home care often cannot.
- Our experienced dentists can find problems and treat them before they get bad (and expensive).
That’s why you need to call DeJesus Dental Group today and make appointments for everyone in your family. Dentistry is a team effort, but we can’t do our part until you call and come in.
The Drinks You Need To Limit
What is the number one cause of tooth decay? Sugar. That’s because sugar is the favorite food of the harmful bacteria in your family’s mouths. As they grow, they erode your enamel and damage your gums. This leads to cavities and gum disease.
Regular soda is often vilified, and for good reason — it’s full of sugar. But the drinks below can also hurt your family’s smiles.
ENERGY AND SPORTS DRINKS
These have become much more popular over the past decade. They come in small and large cans, and they are packed with vitamins and caffeine — and sugar. While there are some sugar-free varieties, most energy drinks come with a lot of sugar. Both feed the bacteria behind cavities and gum disease.
Sports drinks are popular, too. While they are not full of sugar, they have plenty of carbohydrates. Carbs are so similar to sugar that they also encourage the growth of harmful bacteria, increasing your risk of tooth decay and gum disease.
DIET SODA
Many people think diet soda is a healthy choice for your teeth because it has no sugar. That’s true, but all soda (regular and diet) is highly acidic. These acids give soda a balanced flavor, but they also erode and weaken enamel. If you submerged a tooth in diet soda for a few weeks, it will emerge damaged.
Some diet sodas are clear, but most are dark. Although the color is not given by sugary caramel as in regular soda, the dyes used can get trapped on your teeth. Over time, this can turn your smile dark and dingy.
COFFEE AND TEA
Kids are drinking both earlier than ever. And thanks to a certain popular chain of coffee shops, “coffee” can be a huge drink filled with sugar. Some of these coffee drinks are more milkshakes than anything else.
Plus, both coffee and tea are dark enough to stain your family’s teeth. It’s not something that suddenly happens, but that’s why people who have had coffee all their life have yellowish, dingy smiles.
FRUIT JUICE
Fruit juice is a good source of vitamins, yes. It’s also full of natural sugar instead of the processed kind. However, sugar is still sugar. Drinking a glass of orange juice coats your family’s teeth and gums in sugar just like a can of regular soda.
Plus, fruit juice is highly acidic. As with diet soda, the acids in juice can erode and weaken the enamel on your family’s teeth.
Call us today at our Bridgeport/Trumbull dental office (203-372-1220) or our Shelton dental office (203-378-9737) or use our online tool to schedule dental cleanings and dental exams for your family. With all these common drinks able to harm teeth, it’s more important than ever to let our highly trained dental team help protect your family’s smiles.