Ways to protect your teeth from sugary drinks

Read on to know how you can save the pearly whites from harmful effects of sugary drinks!

Sugary beverages are getting consumed all over the world at an alarming rate. These beverages are a very bad news for you as the high sugar content in these sweetened beverages can harm dental and physical health. Harmful bacteria in the mouth relish sugar present in them and use it as an energy source while producing acid in this process that harms the teeth by causing cavities.

Even many beverages that are labeled “healthy” or “all-natural” may be loaded with heaps of sugar in it. Many juices contain a similar amount of sugar as a glass of soda or any aerated beverage. Ideally, we must not consume sugar more than 10% of our daily calories intake as recommended by USDA.

The best bet would be to eliminate these sugary beverages from your diet but if that seems like an uphill task, you may start by at least reducing the amount consumed of these sweetened beverages. Substitute these drinks with water, unsweetened tea, unsweetened smoothies, sparkling water, milk, diluted juice, etc. Apart from that, water contains fluoride that provides additional protection against dental cavities and milk contains calcium that maintains dental strength.

Here are some suggestions to help your teeth while you can continue to sip some of your favorite sugar-sweetened beverages.

Drink your beverage

It is best to drink and not sip the sugary beverage as by sipping you give bacteria time to feed on sugar and create dental cavities.

Drink fast

Finish your beverages fast instead of sipping it for too long for the same reason as before. Children can drink sugary juice with their meal instead of giving them these beverages as a snack in-between meals.

Fluoride is a savior

Fluoride present in water improves dental health as it protects the teeth against dental cavities.

Brush well

You must brush the teeth twice a day and rinse or floss in between teeth at least once daily.