5 Most Effective Ways To take care of your teeth after eating

Our teeth play a key in delivering our body with vital nutrition in the most digestible form. The process of breaking down the food begins as soon as the food comes in contact with your teeth. Apart from making our food more digestion ready, our teeth also play a crucial role in our pronunciation and speech clarity. Not to forget a set of teeth gives our face a desirable structure and a beautiful smile.

The set of pearly white that does so much for our body, appearance and, overall well being, therefore, must require some close attention and regular care. Moreover, the constant exposure to various acidic and sugary food leads to so much potential harm that the absence of any routine care activities can cause irreversible damage to our teeth.

Dental care is preventive care; it is not much you can do once you start to face any problem. Therefore, to maintain a perfect teeth health, you must abide by some basic rules and consult a dentist at least twice a year. If reaching out to a dentist looks like an arduous task to you, you can go for complete mobile dentistry solutions at the ease of your doorstep. Apart from primary dental care, your teeth deserve attention even after you have had your meal, here are five most effective ways that can help you with that.

1.  Brush at least sixty minutes after the meal.

While brushing teeth regularly sounds like a one for all solution for our teeth problems, there might be more to it. Brushing your teeth right after you had your meal might not be that a good idea, it can be dangerous for your teeth health and ADA suggest waiting for at least an hour before you start your cleaning process. Post-meal, the acid levels are quite high in your mouth. As your saliva and the natural pH of your mouth work at clearing off the foods, any external disturbance would do more harm than good. Wait for the pH balance of your mouth to come back to normal before you start brushing your teeth.

2.  Avoid stomach acid and acid reflux.

Sometimes after a heavy meal, the acidity in our stomach intensifies and moves upwards to our chest, causing heartburn, a prevalent condition. Furthermore, this acid makes a way into our mouth under a situation known as acid reflux. This sudden gush of acid to our mouth erodes and weakens our teeth enamel causing severe damage. This could also weaken the strength of your gums — so if you need sensitive gums solutions by the cosmetic dentist in chattanooga tn, don’t hesitate to book an appointment.Therefore, you must try to control acid reflux to happen; this can be achieved by having a balanced diet, keeping your weight in check, and having small meals. Avoid lying down right after a meal and keep the digestive fluids flowing in your stomach by sitting upright, or having a light stroll can also be a great help.

3.  Finish your meal with a crunchy food.

Having a sweet treat after a meal is a common habit among many people. However, finishing your meal with anything sweet or sugary might not be a good habit; rather, it is somewhat dangerous for the health of your teeth and even your digestive system. The bacteria accumulated in your teeth scaling, feed on the sugar from your food, and attack the teeth, causing cavities and caries. One of the best ways to manage this situation is to eat crunchy veggies and fruits like apples, celery sticks, peaches, after every meal. These types of foods are also known as detergent food, as they do the task of scrubbing your teeth and cleansing its surface.

4.  Satisfy your sweet cravings at one go.

Let us suppose, you are to have a bar of milk chocolate, and you understand the potential harm it can bring to your teeth. Now, one way to have that bar is, you finish it at one go, or otherwise, you can also divide that bar into several portions, and choose to eat them at regular intervals. Though the quantity of the sugar you consume remains the same in both situations, but, the latter will bring more harm to your teeth than the former. It is because frequent munching disturbs the pH balance of the mouth over and again, thus, leading to greater chances of bacteria attack. If you crave a sweet, it is not a problem, unless you consume them in one portion and rinse your mouth afterward.

5.  Replace your after-dinner drinks with a glass of tap water.

If you round out your meals with a cup of coffee, tea or, even with a glass of wine then, think twice. Not only will they stain your teeth but also increase the chances of teeth erosion. Instead, try a glass of plain tap water, the fluoride present in it serves as a building block for your tooth health. It can reverse the harm done to your teeth while rinsing of extra sugar and acidity in your mouth.

We all probably know some ground rules of dental care like brushing our teeth twice a day, flossing whenever we can, and use a mouthwash to keep the pH balance in check. We are also very well acquainted with the fact that food rich in calcium is good for our teeth health and what all things to avoid. What we tend to miss out is how to take care of our teeth after we have had our meals. Some of the points mention in this article may come out to you as a surprise, while others might make a way into your routine habits.