While eating, your mouth produces saliva to help you chew and swallow food. Saliva also helps
to prevent plaque from building up in the oral cavity. With snacking, this isn’t quite the case.
Constantly exposing your mouth to acids from food can hurt your teeth.

How exactly does snacking impact your oral health? The answer may surprise you!

Snacking Increases Your Risk for Tooth Decay

Since saliva plays an important role in protecting our teeth, lack thereof can increase your risk
for tooth decay. People who experience dry mouth are at higher risk for tooth decay, but so are
those who snack frequently.

Constantly nibbling on food doesn’t give your body a chance to produce the adequate amount
of saliva needed to neutralize acids from what you’re eating. When you snack instead of eating
a full meal, you could be increasing your risk for tooth decay and not realize it.

Processed Foods Can Attack Tooth Enamel

Unfortunately, snacks often include highly processed foods which contain added sugars and
carbohydrates. These kinds of foods—think granola bars, potato chips, or cookies—not only
stick to your teeth, but can actually start eroding tooth enamel while they take their time to
dissolve!

Foods that are high in carbohydrates such as these are more likely to cause sensitive teeth and
tooth decay due to the fact that they attack tooth enamel. Processed foods can also promote
inflammation such as that which is present in gum disease. When you snack on processed
foods, you could be harming your teeth and gums instead of waiting to eat a meal or choosing
healthier snacks.

What Can You Do?

First, reducing the amount of time that you snack is going to be important for your oral health.
It’s ok to have occasional snacks throughout the day, but be choosy about what you eat and
make a point not to constantly nibble on food.

Limiting sugary snack foods to meals can also help you maintain better oral health instead of
eating sugar in between meals when your saliva production is going to be lower. Reducing your
intake of processed foods and foods with added sugar is going to benefit you as well.

When you do decide to snack, be sure to drink plenty of water. Water can help replenish your
saliva and maintain a barrier between harmful bacteria and your tooth enamel.

And as always, follow up with your dentist. Getting professional cleanings removes plaque and
bacteria that toothbrushes and floss can’t always get rid of. By keeping up with your checkups,
you can give your smile its best chance to be healthy!

You don’t have to give up snacking to have a great smile—just reduce the number of snacks you
have per day and always follow best practices when doing so. By eating healthier snacks such as
whole foods and reducing the amount of processed foods you eat in addition to drinking water,
you can set your mouth up for some healthy snacking time!

The post How Is Snacking Impacting Your Oral Health? appeared first on Your Dental Health Resource.

Convenience of Care

When you’re a busy professional who can’t squeeze in a checkup every six months, this is understandable to most. However, tooth decay and gum disease don’t discriminate. In fact, experts estimate that 47% of Americans have some form of gum disease. That’s nearly half of the American population! Gum disease can eventually cause tooth loss, in addition to sensitive teeth, bad breath, and gum recession. Dental care is more convenient today than ever before. Many places allow you to book appointments online. Your smartphone can easily remind you of your appointment. Often a checkup and cleaning takes less than an hour, so you’re back to your routine in no time!

No Dental Coverage

Over 100 million Americans lack dental health insurance. This plays a huge role in the majority of people not getting the dental care they need. The people who suffer most are children. 1 in 4 kids today have tooth decay. Without checkups, these cavities often go unnoticed and lead to rotten teeth or the loss of permanent teeth in older children.

Adults without dental insurance aren’t doing much better. 56% of adults without dental coverage routinely skip preventative treatment. Without preventative care, ailments such as oral cancer in addition to tooth decay, gum disease, and tooth infections are left to get worse. You can still receive dental care even if you don’t have health insurance. Talk to your dentist to see if they offer interest-free financing through CareCredit. Ask what programs are available in your community in order to receive low-cost or even free dental screenings. The best cure is prevention!

Dental Anxiety

People with dental anxiety feel fear, dread, and terror when they think about going to the dentist. Instead, people who experience this type of anxiety often suffer instead of getting preventative care or treatment. With nearly 30% of all adults having at least one untreated cavity, avoiding the dentist due to dental anxiety is never a good idea. Consider the cost of avoiding the dentist: while it may cost you only $150 to get a cavity filled, a root canal can be upwards of $900! That’s a huge price jump for simply letting a cavity progress to the point that it can’t be filled.

Find a dentist who’s experienced at treating patients with dental anxiety. You want a compassionate, friendly dentist who offers sedative dentistry options to help keep you calm during your visit. Don’t forgo care just because of your anxiety! For all the reasons people avoid the dentist’s office, none of them are genuine excuses to not seek preventative care. There are options available to you. Talk with your local dentist about resources you can utilize to access the care you need for an affordable price. Your smile will thank you later!

The post A Majority of Americans Aren’t Receiving the Preventative Dental Treatment They Need appeared first on Your Dental Health Resource.