The common phrase "you are what you eat" is true, particularly in dental and oral health matters, because every food you eat comes into contact with your teeth. While some foods help boost the health of your teeth, others could cause tooth decay and cavities.

Aside from being a cosmetic issue, tooth cavities could cause other dental problems, like tooth loss, when left untreated. Hence, it is important to know and educate yourself and your loved ones about the foods that can put you at risk of tooth decay and cavities.

This article will look at various foods that cause cavities in most people. Read on to learn more about cavity-causing foods that you should try to limit or avoid and what to do when you detect you have a cavity.

What are Cavities, and How Do They Develop?

Cavities are areas of tooth decay or holes that develop on the harder outer surface of your teeth (enamel) due to erosion by acidic excretions by the bacteria that linger in your mouth and the acidic foods you eat. Cavities are not overnight dental issues because they develop gradually over time.

In most cases, you will not notice you have a cavity in your teeth until you experience the following symptoms:

  • Sensitivity on the affected tooth when sipping cold, sour, or hot drinks
  • Pain when chewing food
  • White or black stain on the affected tooth

Although everyone is at risk of developing cavities, your lifestyle and diet choices could put you at risk of developing this dental issue.

Various Cavity-Causing Foods You Ought to Know

Your dietary choices can significantly affect your overall dental and gum health. Your dental and oral health can prosper with a nutritious and healthy diet. Conversely, a poorly planned diet can make your gums and teeth vulnerable to decay and cavities. Therefore, you should have a well-thought-out and healthy diet to maintain and protect your dental health.

While the foods discussed below have several health benefits, limiting and avoiding some of them can help you keep cavity issues at bay:

Diet Soda, Soda, and Other Sweetened Beverages

Aside from promoting a variety of health issues like insulin resistance, weight gain, and cardiovascular diseases, diet soda, soda, and other sweetened beverages could be harmful to your dental health. These sweetened beverages give your mouth bacteria more "fuel" to continue eroding and demineralizing your teeth' enamel using their acidic excretions.

Aside from being naturally acidic, these sugary beverages also promote further acidic production by bacteria that linger in your mouth, accelerating the erosion of your teeth's enamel. To protect your teeth' enamel and keep cavities at bay, limiting or avoiding the consumption of diet soda, soda, and other sweetened beverages would be a wise idea.

Candy, Table Sugar, and Other Foods With Added Sugar

As mentioned in the previous paragraph, eating sugary foods feeds or fuels bacteria in your mouth to release more acidic excretions that break down and erode your teeth' enamel. That is why foods with added sugar are some of the main culprits for dental issues like cavities.

While some fruits are very sugary, these natural sugars are not harmful to your dental health because these fruits contain other compounds like fibers, which help stimulate saliva production, washing away sugars that linger in your mouth.

According to studies, adults and children with diets that contain added sugar are at high risk of developing gum disease and cavities. In addition to producing enamel-eroding acids, sugars also create an ideal environment for harmful bacteria to thrive, leading to gingivitis and other gum issues.

Foods Rich in Carbohydrates and Starch

While starchy foods like pasta, crackers, chips, bread, and rice are rich in carbohydrates, which provide our bodies with glucose and other nutrients, these foods can be detrimental to your dental health.

When these foods become stuck in the spaces between your teeth, mouth bacteria can break them down into simple sugars, which is the fuel that helps them produce cavity-causing acidic excretions. Although you cannot avoid some of these foods due to their nutritious benefits, you should be mindful of their impacts on your dental health.

Brushing and thoroughly rinsing your mouth after consuming these foods can help lessen or prevent their impact on your dental health.

Dried Fruits

Although most people view them as healthy and nutritious alternatives to sugary candies, most dried fruits like apricots, raisins, figs, and prunes can put you at risk of cavities because they cling and stick on the surface of your teeth after eating.

In addition to being sticky, these dried fruits also contain concentrated sugar, which fuels cavity-causing bacteria in your mouth to release more acidic excretions, demineralizing your teeth enamel.

If you love snacking on dried fruits, it is advisable to brush your teeth and rinse your mouth afterward to wash away sugars that linger in between the spaces of your teeth after feasting on these fruits.

Citrus Fruits

Fruits like citrus, lemon, and oranges are tasty and nutritious, but they could also put you at risk of cavities due to their acidic nature. Like dried fruits, you should rinse your mouth thoroughly after consuming citrus fruits or drinking citrus juices to neutralize the acidity in your mouth and wash away acids that linger in between your teeth spaces.

However, brushing your teeth immediately after consuming these fruits is not advisable because their acidic contents soften your teeth' enamel, making them more prone to abrasion and wearing off as you brush your teeth.

Pickles

Since the vinegar used to make pickled foods contains acid, eating pickles could put you at risk of tooth cavities. Aside from causing erosion of your teeth's enamel and making you prone to cavities, the acid in pickles could stain your teeth, affecting their aesthetic appearance.

While pickles are a great source of vitamin K, which helps strengthen our bones, you should limit their intake to protect your dental health and keep cavities at bay.

Drying Foods

We all know that eating foods rich in a lot of sodium could increase your risk of heart problems, strokes, and high blood pressure, but many are unaware that sodium can also irritate and weaken your teeth, as sugary foods do.

Although salt does not affect your teeth' enamel, it becomes an enemy to your dental health when sodium and carbohydrates combine. As mentioned in the previous sentence, when you eat food rich in sugars and carbs, mouth bacteria feed on these simple sugars, releasing acidic excretions that harm your dental health.

The longer these acidic excretions linger in your mouth, the more damage they cause to the enamel of your teeth. While several minerals, like calcium and phosphorus, have dental health benefits, sodium does not have any. Instead, sodium increases calcium loss through urination, weakening your teeth because calcium helps mineralize and strengthen your teeth' enamel.

Drying drinks like alcohol and wine can also promote the development of cavities in your teeth because they dehydrate your body by reducing or suppressing the production of an important hormone known as Antidiuretics. Antidiuretic hormone is responsible for controlling the amount of urine you urinate.

Therefore, alcohol consumption forces your kidneys to excrete more liquid than usual, dehydrating your body. As a result, your saliva production will also reduce, making your mouth dry and more prone to infection because saliva helps wash away harmful bacteria, including those that cause cavities.

Moderation is key since it can be challenging to avoid some of these cavity-causing foods due to their health benefits. If you are unsure whether or not your diet contains cavity-causing bacteria, you schedule an appointment with a reliable dentist.

A dentist can tell you whether or not your diet could harm your teeth and advise you on healthy foods to incorporate into your diet for healthy teeth and gums.

Foods That Can Help Keep Cavities at Bay

Now that you know all the common cavity-causing foods many people eat almost daily, you need to know foods that can strengthen your teeth, reducing your chances of developing cavities. Some of these foods include (but are not limited to) the following:

Fibrous Vegetables and Fruits

Eating apples, carrots, mangoes, and other fibrous vegetables and fruits can help clean your teeth and food stuck between the spaces of your teeth, reducing the chances of developing tooth decay or cavities.

Aside from helping clean your teeth, fibrous vegetables and fruits help stimulate your saliva glands to release saliva, which neutralizes the acidity in your mouth and prevents erosion of your tooth enamel.

Dairy Products

Dairy products like cheese and plain yogurt also help stimulate saliva production, a crucial fluid in your mouth. Phosphorus and calcium in these dairy products also help remineralize your teeth to prevent the chances of developing tooth decay and cavities.

Foods Rich in Fluoride

Fluoride is a crucial element that helps strengthen your teeth, reversing and preventing cavity issues. Thankfully, fluoride is a naturally occurring element that you will find in small amounts in various foods, including poultry products, powdered cereals, and seafood. Other common sources of fluoride include:

  • Fluoridated water
  • Potatoes
  • Raisins
  • Oatmeal
  • Brewed coffee and black tea

 Black and Green Tea

Black and green tea contains a compound known as polyphenols that helps hold back or kill harmful bacteria in your mouth, preventing cavities and gum diseases.

Sugarless Chewing Gum

While technically it does not qualify as food, sugarless chewing gum can help stimulate saliva production to wash away food that lingers in your mouth after eating.

It is worth noting that these are not the only foods that boost your dental health. Ensure you speak with your dentist to know nutritious and healthy foods you can incorporate into your diet to improve your dental health.

Helpful Tips to Remember When You Eat Cavity-Causing Foods

As mentioned above, most cavity-causing foods contain crucial nutrients that your body needs, meaning it could be challenging to avoid them. However, you can enjoy them in moderation, knowing their possible impacts on your teeth. If you can eliminate cavity-causing foods from your diet, you can lessen the chances of developing cavities when you follow the tips listed below:

Floss and Brush After Eating

You can reduce or prevent the chances of developing cavities by brushing and flossing your teeth after feasting on any cavity-causing food. If you are in a hurry or late for a crucial event, travel mouthwash can help lower the starch, acidity, sugar, and bacteria in your mouth.

Eat Calcium-Rich Foods

Aside from helping strengthen your bones, calcium also helps remineralize and strengthen your teeth, reversing and preventing cavity issues. Below are examples of calcium-rich foods that you can incorporate into your diet for healthy teeth:

  • Nuts
  • Seeds
  • Dairy products
  • Almonds
  • Salmon
  • Beans

Incorporate Alkaline Foods into Your Diet

You will enjoy several benefits once you incorporate alkaline-rich foods like cabbage, spinach, broccoli, and leafy greens into your diet, including lessening your chances of developing cavities. Limiting your consumption of acidic foods and incorporating alkaline-rich foods into your diet can increase your mouth pH and improve your dental and oral health.

Using Tooth-Whitening Toothpaste

Stain-causing drinks and foods like berries can discolor your teeth, affecting your smile's aesthetic appearance and increasing your chances of developing tooth decay and cavities. Fortunately, you can lower or prevent the discoloration of your teeth after eating stain-causing foods when you use tooth-whitening toothpaste to brush your teeth daily.

Bottomline

While the above home-based remedies can help you stay on top of your dental health, scheduling an appointment with your dentist at least twice a year for routine check-ups and examinations is key to preventing dental issues like cavities.

Aside from cleaning your teeth thoroughly (deep teeth cleaning), your dentist will check whether you are at risk of cavities during your routine dental appointments. If so, he/she will offer the necessary treatment and give you tips to help keep cavity issues at bay.

Find a Dentist Near Me

Knowing and understanding how various foods can affect your dental health is important because some foods can increase your risk of developing cavities and other oral health problems. If you want more information on cavity-causing foods or have a cavity you want to reverse, our reliable dentists at Northridge Advanced Dentistry are here to help.

Call us at 818-701-3010 for an obligation-free consultation with us today.