It’s always essential to have a healthy diet, including a variety of foods and drinks you can enjoy and benefit from. When thinking about your diet, there’s no doubt a lot of focus on your weight and calorie intake, but have you also thought about how your diet can affect your teeth?

What you choose to eat or drink has the power to compromise your oral health, too. This could be from tooth staining to tooth decay, so it’s always important to know which foods and drinks to watch out for and have in moderation if needed.

Here are the top 6 food and drink items you should watch out for if you want to care for your teeth.

1.    Candy

It’ll be no surprise that sweet treats and candy can damage your teeth, but did you know why? Candy — and especially sour candy — contains many acidic properties which can compromise your teeth. So if you’re a fan of eating large amounts of candy on a frequent basis, this could not only be affecting your weight but your oral health, too.

2.    Alcohol

Excess alcohol consumption naturally has negative effects on the body, but it’s also bad news for your teeth. If you’ve ever had a heavy night out and woken with a hangover, you’ll know what it feels like to need ten gallons of water to treat a dry mouth. This dry mouth is the problem: alcohol causes a lack of saliva in your mouth, and saliva is important for keeping your teeth healthy. It washes away bad bacteria and helps to swill out your mouth.

3.    Bread

When bread is chewed and broken down, it goes into a more paste-like substance. When eating a sandwich, you may have noticed that this very easily gets stuck in or on your teeth. Because of this, bread can easily get stuck between teeth in places you can’t see and runs the risk of causing cavities.

4.    Coffee

While this isn’t the most damaging substance in terms of directly affecting your teeth, it can lead to decay if consumed in extremely large quantities over time due to the acidic properties it has. Overall, coffee can weaken tooth enamel and also stain your teeth too.

You can offset your coffee drinking habits by keeping it down to a few cups a day and making sure your oral hygiene routine is never neglected. If you’re a coffee drinker concerned about staining, you can also try teeth whitening services from professional dentists like www.dentessential.com.au.

5.    Ice

Ice is the perfect accompaniment to your favorite drink, but it’s also one that can cause a lot of damage if you like to chew your ice. Ice runs the risk of damaging enamel, or even cracking and breaking teeth. So if you have a habit of chewing your ice cubes, try avoiding using any altogether.

6.    Citrus Fruits and Juices

As part of a healthy diet, you no doubt include fruits like oranges. Citrus fruits, whether consumed directly or in fruit juice form, are highly acidic, which means they run the risk of damaging tooth enamel and promoting decay. Moderation is best for citrus fruits, alongside a good tooth-cleaning routine.