Why Fruit Drinks May be Damaging Your Teeth

Dentist Blog

Do you love your morning or after meal fruit drink? You may be causing more harm to your teeth than you thought. Despite these drinks having various nutritive values, including vitamins and antioxidants, the damage that you are exposing your teeth to by drinking these fruit drinks can be overwhelming. Therefore, here are three factors that might just change your opinion concerning your fruit drinks.

Damage to the Enamel

Some of your fruit drinks, such as orange juices, may contain acids such as citric acid. Apart from softening your outer teeth, the acid can soften your dentine and reduce the ability of your saliva to repair worn out parts of your teeth. The enamel of your teeth may be more fragile than you think. While the acid released by the bacteria in your mouth can affect the enamel, acids in the common fruit drinks may wear down your enamel even faster. That is, depending on the level of acidity in your fruit drink and the frequency of your consumption, your tooth enamel can be worn down over time, which can lead to tooth loss and sensitive teeth. If you like orange juice, then you might be damaging your teeth even more because this fruit drink may roughen your teeth surfaces and decrease their hardness, which can leave them prone to cavities and plaque.

Breeding Ground for Bacteria

The acidity in your fruit drink may make your mouth, even more, acidic, which can provide the best growing environment for bacteria, which can cause dental cavities. That is, the growing bacteria can produce acids that cause the irreversible solubilization of your tooth mineral, leading to dental decay. The bacteria may also irritate your gums, which can lead to gum diseases that can weaken your teeth or make them fall off eventually.

Sugar Content

How sweet does your cocktail or your mango juice taste when you take it? The sugar content that your fruit drink may surprise you. That is, sugar may often be of the highest content in these drinks. For this reason, the bacteria in your mouth consume this sugar and convert it into acids that wear your teeth as explained above, leading to cavities. Further, don't think that taking pure fruit drinks may be your solution. In fact, these pure fruit drinks may be containing larger amounts of the sugars that occur naturally, which can further affect your teeth.

For more information on how to take better care of your teeth, contact a practice like The Happy Tooth Kurri Kurri. 

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23 December 2015