Sipping Soda Through a Straw May Cut Cavities
If you want to keep your shiny, white teeth, sip your soda through a straw.
Most of us know that the sugar in soft drinks causes cavities. But it’s not just the sugar content of pop that we have to fear. Even diet sodas can harm your teeth as the acid in soda weakens tooth enamel. Other beverages such as sports drinks, iced tea, and lemonade are high in citric acid, and can be just as harmful to your teeth as sodas.
What can you do to protect your teeth when drinking these beverages? Bacteria love sugar so switching to diet drinks can help reduce cavity formation. Minimizing the contact with your teeth helps. Drink with a straw, pointing the straw towards the back of the mouth to lessen contact with the teeth. Drink your soft drink with a meal, instead of sipping throughout the day. Saliva helps neutralize the acid in soda so drinking while you eat, or chewing gum after drinking can help. Rinse your mouth after drinking especially if you have been thirsty and have a dry mouth. Don’t drink soda right before sleeping. Brush your teeth regularly. This will keep staining at bay. Rinse your mouth first before brushing your teeth to neutralize the acid, and then brush with a circular motion using fluoridated toothpaste. Doing so will prevent damage to weakened enamel.
With all the potential negative effects of drinking pop and other sweetened beverages, ranging from weight gain and obesity to tooth decay and bone loss, it’s amazing that very few people are complaining about the soft drink companies.
Soft drink makers have been promoting these beverages heavily, trying to get as many people as possible hooked on these sweetened drinks. There are even plans to have taps running Coke into people’s houses. All over the world, there has been a growing preference for these sweetened beverages that have little or no nutritional value. In some cases, people have even developed a dependence on these drinks as they will not drink anything else. This shouldn’t surprise anyone. After all, many of these drinks have caffeine, and we know that caffeine is an addictive substance.
The rise in obesity among children in the US has begun to bring attention to the danger of giving soda companies a free hand in reining in customers. There has been a campaign against having vending machines in schools that dispense unhealthy drinks. Beverage companies are starting to get scared and have just announced their own guidelines of what is appropriate to serve in schools at different grade levels. They are hoping that this will head off any legislation that might totally cut off their access to a big market—the children in schools.
Most of us know that the sugar in soft drinks causes cavities. But it’s not just the sugar content of pop that we have to fear. Even diet sodas can harm your teeth as the acid in soda weakens tooth enamel. Other beverages such as sports drinks, iced tea, and lemonade are high in citric acid, and can be just as harmful to your teeth as sodas.
What can you do to protect your teeth when drinking these beverages? Bacteria love sugar so switching to diet drinks can help reduce cavity formation. Minimizing the contact with your teeth helps. Drink with a straw, pointing the straw towards the back of the mouth to lessen contact with the teeth. Drink your soft drink with a meal, instead of sipping throughout the day. Saliva helps neutralize the acid in soda so drinking while you eat, or chewing gum after drinking can help. Rinse your mouth after drinking especially if you have been thirsty and have a dry mouth. Don’t drink soda right before sleeping. Brush your teeth regularly. This will keep staining at bay. Rinse your mouth first before brushing your teeth to neutralize the acid, and then brush with a circular motion using fluoridated toothpaste. Doing so will prevent damage to weakened enamel.
With all the potential negative effects of drinking pop and other sweetened beverages, ranging from weight gain and obesity to tooth decay and bone loss, it’s amazing that very few people are complaining about the soft drink companies.
Soft drink makers have been promoting these beverages heavily, trying to get as many people as possible hooked on these sweetened drinks. There are even plans to have taps running Coke into people’s houses. All over the world, there has been a growing preference for these sweetened beverages that have little or no nutritional value. In some cases, people have even developed a dependence on these drinks as they will not drink anything else. This shouldn’t surprise anyone. After all, many of these drinks have caffeine, and we know that caffeine is an addictive substance.
The rise in obesity among children in the US has begun to bring attention to the danger of giving soda companies a free hand in reining in customers. There has been a campaign against having vending machines in schools that dispense unhealthy drinks. Beverage companies are starting to get scared and have just announced their own guidelines of what is appropriate to serve in schools at different grade levels. They are hoping that this will head off any legislation that might totally cut off their access to a big market—the children in schools.
Comments:
Boycott soda! Water tastes better anyway. Hehe.
No, let’s campaign to make soda a public utility. Coke on tap for everyone!
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