Our number-one goal at Lakeforest Dental Associates is to help your whole family protect and care for your smiles for your entire lives. We strive to provide our lifetime patients with the highest quality family dental care available, and we want to offer our Gaithersburg community as many tips and tricks as possible for preserving smiles for years to come.
One of the biggest threats facing your family’s smiles is an ingredient found in so many of the foods and drinks we consume every single day: sugar.
The Effects of Sugar
While it is widely known that sugar can be harmful to your teeth, most people do not know how to minimize the negative effects of sugar aside from cutting it out of their diets altogether. For most families, a sugar-free existence is not very realistic. Instead, try integrating the suggestions below into your daily routine to help reduce the destructive impact sugar can have on your teeth:
- Limit Sugar Intake To Mealtime: If you are going to eat a sugary treat, try to limit it to dessert immediately after finishing a meal. Munching on sugary snacks throughout the day is more damaging to the enamel on your teeth than if you consumed that same treat after a meal when your body’s saliva production is already in full swing.
- Drink Water or Chew Sugarless Gum after Eating Sugar: If you have recently eaten a cookie or a handful of leftover Halloween candy, try rinsing your mouth out with water or popping in a piece of sugar-free gum. This practice can help rinse off your teeth and rid them of harmful bacteria and acids that naturally develop when we eat.
- Limit Liquid Sugars and Drink Through a Straw: Sugary drinks such as juices and sodas are very harmful to the enamel on your teeth they come in contact with. Limit these drinks to special occasions, and have only one serving. Additionally, place a straw in the can or cup and direct the straw toward the back of your throat — this will help avoid direct contact with your teeth, particularly in the front of your mouth.
Call Your Gaithersburg Dentist for a Professional Cleaning
For more tricks on how to protect your family’s smiles from sugar, call our Gaithersburg dental office today at (301) 330-8787.
