Habits That Can Damage Your Teeth

It is sometimes surprising for patients to learn that some otherwise healthy behaviors are causing significant damage to their teeth. While waiting for your next dental exam to ask your dentist more about this kind of thing, here is a look at some of those things and ways to minimize their detrimental effects.Fruit Smoothies

While these may be great in a variety of ways for your overall health, fruit smoothies are essentially a viscous, sticky form a sugar that will just sit on your teeth. This provides oral bacteria plenty to digest, which will increase the rate of decay on your teeth, leading to cavities. To minimize this, drink the smoothie from a straw, which will bypass your teeth altogether. Also make it a habit to rinse your mouth with water and follow the smooth with a healthy gulp of water. However, do not immediately brush your teeth, as noted below.

Brushing Immediately After Eating or Drinking

While this might seem like a good idea, the truth is that doing so within 30 to 60 minutes could be terrible on your teeth. This is for two reasons. First, if what you ate or drank is acidic, the brushing will actually push the acid further into the enamel, which is precisely what causes cavities. Second, if you ate something that is hard, the brushing could scrape pieces of the food against the teeth. This can scratch the enamel, which speeds up their erosion.

Wine

Wine, both red and white, contain acids which erode teeth. Not only does this make the teeth more susceptible to staining from them and other things like coffee, but also to decay. After drinking wine, swish thoroughly to minimize the effects of this.