Sip All Day, Get Decay
You may have already heard of this little saying, but it truly means a lot in dentistry. At Dental Reflections Dublin, we preach it and we try to practice it daily. We’re not going to lie, the busier we are, the more we may find ourselves trying to sip on that morning coffee we didn’t get to finish because our day started out full speed. It’s all about planning ahead and setting yourself, well your teeth, up for success. In this article, we discuss the meaning behind, “Sip All Day, Get Decay” saying.
Choices
Each day when we wake up, we have so many choices to make. What outfit are we going to wear? How will we style our hair? What’s for breakfast? What will we drink with breakfast? Keywords: drink WITH breakfast. Drinking acidic or more sugary beverages isn’t as bad when you actually have them with meals. Food we consume actually helps to buffer the acids from the drinks we have. For example, if you are eating scrambled eggs with cheese but drinking coffee, the eggs and cheese will help neutralize the acidity in your mouth to help prevent cavities and tooth decay. Now, if you are having a granola bar and coffee on the way to work, it is going to be best to drink lots of water when you are done and even brush or use a fluoride rinse if possible.
Frequency is Key
It’s not about the amount consumed but more about frequency. For example, you can drink a 16-ounce energy drink in 5 minutes and it is better for your teeth than sipping it over an hour-long period. After each sip of a sugary drink, it takes the mouth 20 minutes to buffer the acids which means if you take a drink every 5-10 minutes for an hour, there is no way for your mouth to catch up on buffering those acids which in turn, highly increases your risk of getting cavities. These are the type of cavities we see in between the teeth (flossing cavities where the sugars settle) or along the sides of the teeth. It is best to drink water between sips of these types of beverages to act as a cleansing agent to the teeth. Sugary, acidic drinks include basically anything except water, white milk and some hot teas which are more neutral. Even diet or flavored waters with zero sugar are very acidic to drink throughout the day. It is best to drink water between meals and limit sugary drinks to mealtimes.
Prevent Tooth Decay
We know everyone is not going to be perfect when it comes to sipping non-water drinks throughout the day. Again, it comes down to how often are you doing it? Every day or once or twice a week for a couple of hours a day vs. all day. At Dental Reflections Dublin, we just want to give our patients the proper tools and knowledge they need to keep the cavity bugs at bay and prevent tooth decay. For more tips on dentistry or to schedule an appointment, contact our Dublin, OH office today.
