ice

The food and drink you put into your mouth can make all of the difference when it comes to your dental health. When some people drink water, soda, or other drinks with ice, they may experience tooth pain. Does this mean ice is bad for your teeth? Let’s take a look now.

Is ice good or bad for your teeth?

Since ice is just frozen water, the real question we should be asking is whether or not water is good for your teeth. The answer is yes! Since many American communities add fluoride to their public water, water can actually strengthen your teeth without you doing anything extra! The reason communities started adding more fluoride to water (since water already naturally contains fluoride) was to help reduce tooth decay. Your ice cubes should contain fluoride as well!
Like water, ice can also prevent you from having a dry mouth. What’s the problem with dry mouth? Well, saliva swishes away bacteria and food particles, and strengthens your teeth naturally with calcium, fluoride and phosphate. When you suck on ice or drink water, you keep your mouth moist.

When ice is bad for your teeth

Just because ice can be good for your teeth doesn’t mean it always is. Chewing on ice is a common habit that many people form. It can lead to a variety of serious dental issues, including a broken, cracked or chipped tooth, enamel damage, a sore jaw, and issues with fillings and crowns. These incidents tend to increase during the summer months.
Instead of chewing ice, it’s best that you let ice melt in your mouth or in your drink. If you have an addiction to chewing ice, we recommend that you carry carrots, celery, or apples with you when you’re feeling the urge to chew. Don’t hesitate to speak with us if you’re having trouble kicking your ice addiction.

Why does ice hurt your teeth?

Since we already covered the fact that ice is good for your teeth, why do so many people experience pain when ice comes into contact with their mouth? This issue comes down to a problem with your mouth - not frozen water. You probably notice similar pain or discomfort when you eat anything cold, including ice cream and popsicles. This may be because you have sensitive teeth.
Sensitive teeth are usually nothing to be worried about. In fact, millions of people in the U.S. have sensitive teeth. You can work to make your teeth less sensitive by using toothpaste that is specifically designed for sensitive teeth, avoiding highly acidic foods and drinks, and making sure you’re not brushing your teeth too hard or with bristles that are too strong.
If you experience very sensitive teeth for three days or more, you may have a more serious problem. It’s best to contact your dentist at this point to see if you’re experiencing tooth decay or gum disease. If you’re in Chicago and are experiencing this problem, feel free to contact us today! We can help you figure out why your teeth are so sensitive.

We spend a considerable amount of time discussing the best and worst foods for your teeth. And while there are plenty of both foods to consume and not to consume, we’d like to share with you the foods we recommend you completely cut out of your diet. Sure, there are foods like apples that can be bad for your teeth (as well as good), they are ultimately good for your body. However, we believe the following foods have no substantial value to your health, so we feel no hesitancy suggesting you cut these foods from your diet completely, at least for the sake of your teeth.

1. Hard Candy, Caramel, and Long-Lasting Sweets

We’ve discussed the effects of sugar on your teeth before. While you may be able to beat the damaging causes of sugar, we recommend trying to cut out any of the tougher candies that can ruin your teeth. The fact is that you’re letting a high concentration of sugar rest in your mouth. This creates a feeding frenzy for any and all bacteria. Furthermore, because you allow the candy to stay in one place, in the mouth, for a long time, a large amount of acid can build up in those, which then causes demineralization. Along with the harms of sugar, hard candies are often chewed before finished. This can easily crack or fracture a tooth, which causes a whole other deal of trouble.

2. Canned Fruit

Fruits like peaches and pears are already packed with sugar. Unfortunately, food manufacturers can these fruits and pack them with a ton of extra sugar. When it comes to oranges and other canned citrus fruit, it’s even worse as the sugars combine with the citric acid to create a bulldozer of harmful substances to attack your teeth. We recommend eating fruit, but stick with the fresh stuff. If you must buy canned, look for fruit canned in its own juices, or buy frozen instead.

3. Soft Drinks / Soda

Sodas and Soft Drinks (even diet) are horrible for your teeth and should be avoided at all costs. Along with having no substantial value to your overall diet, sodas are filled with acidic sugars that are perfect for rotting teeth. Most sodas also contain phosphoric and citric acids that can also easily erode teeth. Take a moment to research soda and you’ll see that it’s not only a tasty drink, but can help remove rust off of nails and clean stains off of toilets. Is that something you really want in your body? Cutting soft drinks out of your diet is a great way to keep your teeth healthy and to avoid unwanted sugars.

4. Ice

Ice is a very helpful substance that cools our beverages, but when we choose to pop those ice cubes in our mouth and start chewing, then we’re risking some serious damage to our teeth. While, yes, ice is sugar free, it is just as harmful if you chew it. It’s one of the leading causes of cracked or damaged teeth. If you chew ice, we recommend finding something else to occupy your time, try gum with the ADA Seal which helps you understand which gum is good for your teeth.

5. Saltine Crackers and Potato Chips

All processed carbs such as Saltine crackers and potato chips are extremely harmful to the teeth without providing any real benefit to the body. The problem is, though crackers and chips start crunchy, they become gummy in the mouth once chewed. The carbs, which are just sugar, end up snuggling themselves high up into the gums where they can get caught in pockets between your teeth. Even brushing shortly after might not be able to remove all of the gummy carbs that have hid themselves inside your gums. We recommend avoiding these kind of snacks as much as possible.
Of course, we all have our guilty pleasures, and most of these foods fall into that category. If you do choose to eat these harmful foods, do your best to brush your teeth soon after to remove the sugars and harmful acids that can erode your teeth. If you have any more questions, contact Water Tower Dental, we’d be happy to help.