Coffee and Drinks for your Dental Health

The Fall weather has started to move in and more of us are focused on warm and cozy drinks and snacks.  This is indeed the time to lounge about with friends and family and indulge more with hot drinks in the morning and at night.  This is generally what my family looks forward to each and every year, but it is not always the best thing for us.  Many people talk about dental health when it comes to all the Halloween candy, but they never even glance or think about all the extra drinks we are consuming and what they may actually be doing to our mouths.  So today I want to go over some of the drinks we love and maybe some of the drinks we should work on drinking less of or cutting out altogether. 

 

Now the first drink that comes to mind in the fall is also a staple for many people in this country.  The morning cup of coffee or in reality the 2 or 3 that follow are a staple for the working American.  The average American drinks two cups a day and that is a massive amount of coffee.  Think about it covering your teeth every single day and the thing is that it is not good for your teeth.  Coffee is highly acidic and actually erodes the tooth enamel that you have.  This means that over time it softens your enamel and it does start to erode.  Not only does is take away your precious enamel but it also can stain them.

The fact is that when coffee eats away at your enamel is allows the dark color to stain your teeth as well.  This can go deep and be so bad as to not be able to be brushed away.  That is because it goes an extra layer into your teeth and it will take a professional cleaning or whitening to actually get rid of coffee stains.  That is definitely something to think about because we also drink a lot more coffee in the colder months due to it paring well with snacks and treats even at night.  The decaff coffee is still damaging even though it doesn't have caffeine in it, but it can still damage your teeth. 

 

So one thing to do is to cut back on your coffee intake.  That means drinking less of it.  This can be very challenging due to the fact that it is addicting.  The caffeine in the coffee can cause withdrawal if you stop drinking it and that can have severe headaches that follow.  This is why people start and never stop.  So substituting another caffeinated beverage is a good idea.  Many people chose a version of tea to substitute their morning cups of coffee with.  They may also decide to simply take caffeine pills and drink water instead.  That is probably the most healthy way to cut back on drinking coffee but it is the hardest habit to change it out for.

 

But even if you are going to drink those sugary drinks or coffee consistently it is always a good idea to drink some water right after.  Water can rinse your mouth and help produce more saliva. Salvia is your mouth's natural cleaner and is nice to always have lots of. So stay hydrated and stay safe this fall season.