While a bag of snacks tastes great, they often come with a price - dental problems.
It's important to make the right choices when it comes to diet, and it's okay to have some candy every now and then, but eating candy every day and frequently will eventually have a negative impact on our teeth and require dental treatment.
What effect does candy have on teeth?
The report identifies the following as the most common dental problems caused by candy.
tooth sensitivity
Bacteria in the mouth can metabolize simple carbohydrates (sugar), which lowers the overall pH in the mouth, creating an acidic environment.
An acidic environment eats away the enamel on your teeth, making them more sensitive and more susceptible to decay.
Additionally, even if the sugar is not metabolized, it can cause sensitivity in areas without enamel.
The "feeling" of teeth is achieved through tiny tubules in the dentin layer of teeth. There is fluid in these small tubes. The fluid expands and contracts in response to heat, cold, sweet foods, etc. This is explained by the tooth's nerves and tiny blood vessels contained in the pulp.
People with gum recession often have sugar sensitivity.
Additionally, a common complaint for teeth that already have cavities is sensitivity to sweet foods.
toothache
If the candy causes damage to the tooth, filling, or crown, it can cause pain.
It can be extremely painful to clench your teeth and crush the candy . A cracked tooth can be very painful if it breaks into the nerve or root of the tooth.
Damaged fillings and crowns
If the candy is sticky, it could pull out a piece of the filling or pull off the crown, and if it's hard, it could damage the filling or the tooth, Lees said.
Cavities form after repeated exposure to candy and oral bacteria that digest the sugar into acid and eat away at the enamel. While this approach does not directly damage the filling material, decay may form at the edges of the filling or crown (the edge of the tooth where the filling/crown meets).
Teeth are chipped or cracked
Patients will know they have a cracked or chipped tooth while eating, but it doesn't hurt, so the patient won't go to the dentist right away, however, a few months later, it will start to hurt because a cavity has developed in the tooth, or the nerve has been exposed .
Because a cracked or chipped tooth has lost its outer layer, enamel, and cavities progress at a faster rate, increasing the likelihood of more treatment, such as a root canal or crown.
jaw discomfort
Chewing hard or sticky candies can put additional stress and load on the temporomandibular joints, the two joints that connect the jaw to the skull.
Chewing candy repeatedly can cause pain and inflammation in the temporomandibular joints and muscles.
Overstretching or opening your jaw when eating large pieces of candy can also cause discomfort.
gum infection
The most common candy-related problem is small pieces of candy getting stuck under the gums and not being removed by flossing.
Sometimes it gets stuck under the gums, usually between the teeth, and a periodontal abscess (localized infection of the gums) can form.
What's the Unhealthiest Candy?
These candies are harder or stickier than any other natural or health food, and biting into these hard or sticky candies can break your teeth and cause severe tooth pain.
Eating hard candies or mints every hour is also not a good idea. By doing this, you're basically maintaining a lower pH all day long and setting yourself up for rot.
Any hard or sticky candy left in your mouth for an extended period of time can cause damage. Part of the factor that causes tooth decay is the amount of time the pH level decreases. A piece of chocolate dissolves quickly, you swallow it, and your saliva returns the oral environment to a normal pH.
Hard, sticky candies left in the mouth for an extended period of time can further corrode enamel by lowering the pH level for a longer period of time.
How to keep your teeth healthy?
When enjoying candy, it's best to consume it with or immediately after a meal, as the body produces extra saliva during this time to break down the food and clean the mouth naturally.
In addition, when eating food, especially sugary food, it is best to finish it within 30 minutes and not to eat for a long time. Repeatedly adding sugar to your teeth increases the risk of tooth decay.
While brushing or flossing is a good move, don't do it for 30 minutes after eating, and then wait at least an hour after brushing or flossing before eating.
This allows our saliva and 'good bacteria' to naturally protect our teeth and gums.
Eat a piece of candy and be done with it. Return pH to normal as quickly as possible by drinking water or brushing your teeth. Fluoride in water or toothpaste can bind to small erosion spots in the enamel and stop the process.
