Toothy Treats!

We all know that some things are better for our bodies than others, but how about our teeth? Sure, sugar is bad, but why? And if cookies are bad for our buns and our chompers, then what isn’t? We would like to help take the guesswork out of healthy choices for your teeth and get you on the road to better snacking!

Hurts so Good!
Sugar is bad news bears for your pearly whites, but why? Well, the sweet stuff is the food of choice for all of the delightful little bacteria making up the biofilm (fancy pants jargon for bacterial pow-wow) in our mouths. Most of these little guys are good, but because sugar isn’t exactly what we should be eating all of the time, eating too much of it ends up throwing our oral flora out of whack and increasing the amount of, ahem, excrement that bacteria produce (come on, a germ’s gotta poo, too!).

The problem is that bacterial waste is acidic, and therefore damages the  teeth the bacteria occupy. More sugar leads to more acid, which leads to less enamel, ending in cavities. So the idea is to keep your mouth neutral and decrease the amount of sugar available to your bio-film!

Well, What Else is There?!
Now that sugar is out, what else is there for you to nibble on that won’t make you feel deprived? Be picky when you have the munchies and select tasty treats that will be chewed, swallowed, and conquered to get the sugars out of your mouth sooner rather than later. Avoid sticky, chewy items that will glue themselves to your teeth for long periods of time. This stuff (while sinfully delicious) essentially gives bacteria a temporary trough for them to snack from!

Sweet isn’t all bad, so indulge in things like pears, pineapples, and tangerines when you’re feeling the urge. For savory snacking, choose nuts and seeds (pumpkin season is here!), and a pretzel or two won’t do a body bad either. On bread items, take a look at the packaging to see how much sugar is added (it sneaks in everywhere!) and choose options that have little to no sugar to minimize the germy smorgasbord. Milk products are OK as well, but again, be wary of hidden sugars.

No matter what you snack on, remember to keep your mouth moving, and brush after you munch to limit the bacterial buffet!