Oral Hygiene and Diet
Your diet, including both food and drink, impacts your oral hygiene. The acids and ingredients that food and drink contain affect your gums, teeth and mouth hygiene. Churchfield Dental Centre has the best dental health tips on how to maintain good oral hygiene while still enjoying your favourite foods and drink.
Oral Hygiene and Drinks
All fizzy drinks, fruit juices, diluting juices and flavoured mineral waters are acidic and cause removal of the tooth surface (erosion). The safest drinks to take to avoid wear are plain water, milk, tea and coffee (without sugar of course).
When is best?
It is important to cut down on acidic drinks, especially the number of times every day that these drinks are taken. The best time to have these drinks, if you must take them, is at mealtimes, when they seem to do less damage (this is probably because of the extra saliva present during eating).
Try to avoid acidic drinks between meals and before bed!
It is better to swallow the drink quickly to reduce the time it spends in your mouth. Avoid holding the drink in your mouth or rinsing it around your mouth before swallowing. This could cause damage and erosion of your teeth!
Drinking through a straw prevents contact of the drink with your teeth and so may cause less tooth wear. A narrow straw placed behind the front teeth and far back in the mouth seems best at preventing contact. Although be sure to choose a reusable or biodegradable straw (rather than plastic) to minimise your environmental impact!
Brushing your teeth immediately after having an acidic drink can cause teeth to wear even more quickly. Avoid brushing for at least an hour after taking soft drinks, especially following your breakfast fruit juice. Try to brush with a small amount of a less abrasive toothpaste (i.e. a gel-type paste) and use a fluoride mouthwash.
It’s as important to maintain good oral hygiene with composite and porcelain veneers as it is with your natural tooth enamel. Looking after your teeth helps avoid erosion, and keeps your veneers in good condition.
If you want to improve your oral hygiene, be sure to follow our tips! If you want further information or advice then get in touch with Churchfield Dental Centre. We would love to see you in an oral hygiene appointment, whether you have good oral hygiene you want to maintain or are looking to improve!
