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Top 5 Teeth Offenders

We’ve all heard the discussions on sugar tax and childhood obesity. But what about the effects of sugar on our teeth?

Unfortunately sugar is the enemy of teeth as well and we need to limit the amount of sugary and acidic foods we take in for the sake of our general oral health and to prevent tooth decay.

To help you out, we’ve put together the following list of five sneaky teeth offenders to watch out for:

Mints
We’re all prone to popping a mint after a meal or in between meetings. However, mints contain high levels of sugar and should be avoided. If you’re regularly sucking or chomping on mints, you’re opening up your teeth to major sugar and acid attacks.

Sugary drinks
No big surprise here! We’re aware that fizzy drinks are bad for our teeth and don’t be fooled by the attraction of diet and sugar free options – the bubbles and acid are still wreaking havoc on your teeth. Our advice is to limit or completely reduce the sugary / fizzy drinks that you consume for the sake of your teeth if nothing else!

What you might not be as aware of is the harmful effects of seemingly ‘healthy’ drinks such as juices and smoothies on our teeth. These drinks are often very high in acid and sugar and expose people, particularly children, to the same risk of tooth decay. Our advice? Go for water every time!

Sports and energy drinks
Sports and high energy drinks often contain a huge amount of sugar. Sipping on a sports drink throughout your workout is going to expose your teeth to prolonged sugar and acid attacks, leading to decay.

Sticky, chewy sweets
We all know sweets contain high levels of sugar. The chewy, sticky sweets you get are particularly bad as they are likely to get stuck in gaps and hard to reach places on the teeth and cause decay.

Soft breads and pastries (starchy foods)
Your morning Danish pastry can lie in hiding, lurking in the depths of your teeth, causing damage and decay throughout the day. Some of these pastries are obviously high in sugar but others such as white bread can have hidden sugar which also causes decay when left in the teeth all day.

For tips on healthy eating and snacking visit Safe Food Ireland.