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If your teeth and gums are healthy, you should have no trouble eating a full diet rich in proteins, grains, fruits, and vegetables. But if your teeth are beginning to experience damage or if you are experiencing the early stages of gum disease, some foods may become unpleasant to eat, and you may start avoiding them. This is a sign that your next dental checkup is overdue.
Ice Cream
Ice cream is a wonderful treat, but many people start avoiding it due to tooth sensitivity. There are many possible causes of tooth sensitivity, but it’s often related either to cavities, that allow cold material to get closer to your tooth nerve, or gum disease, which exposes tooth roots that are more sensitive.
Another cause of sensitivity is metal amalgam fillings, which can transmit temperature changes deep into your tooth. Replacing them with tooth-colored fillings can reduce sensitivity.
Hot Beverages: Tea, Coffee, and Cocoa
The same causes can make your teeth sensitive to hot foods and beverages.
Corn or Potato Chips
When you eat chips, they can break up into sharp fragments that can stab at your gums. Healthy gums are pretty resistant to this type of attack, but if you are suffering early stages of gum disease, you may notice that you’re getting more painful stabs in your gums.
Popcorn
Popcorn is a healthy snack–if you avoid putting too much butter on it–but it can be hard on your teeth and gums. The kernels can be hard to chew, and the husks from the kernels can get caught between your teeth or between your teeth and gums.
If you’re experiencing gum disease, you’re more likely to get the husks stuck around your teeth. It’s also more likely to be painful or irritating. If your jaw feels sore after eating popcorn, you might want to be evaluated for TMJ.
Apples, Carrots, Celery and Other Crunchy Fruits and Vegetables
Healthy teeth should be able to handle these healthy and tasty foods, but if you have gum disease, these teeth can expose how loose your teeth are. If you have gaps in your teeth or crooked teeth, you might also be irritated by food particles that get stuck between your teeth.
Pork and Steak
These meats can be hard to chew, but even if they’re nice and tender, they are composed of fibers that can get between your teeth and irritate your gums. You’re more likely to feel this if you’re developing gum disease.
You might also be avoiding these foods because your dentures aren’t fitted well enough to permit you to eat them.
Enjoy a Complete Diet
If you are avoiding any of these foods because of the problem they pose for your teeth or gums, it’s time to see your dentist. With proper restorations and treatment of problems, we can make your mouth fit for eating a full range of healthy foods.
If you’re overdue for your next dental check-up in Philadelphia, please contact Dental Excellence of Blue Bell today.
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