From Mother Nature Network's Melissa Breyer: [1]


Whether you are a diligent brusher of the teeth right after eating, or if you’re like the rest of us and feel a tinge of shame for not doing so, you may be interested in knowing this: at least one study has shown that the practice is not in the best interest of your pearly whites.


While some professional opinions vary, a number of top teeth docs agree with the findings. The basic problem is that the sugar in foods is metabolized by the bacteria or plaque on enamel, producing acids that lead to gum disease and cavities.


Common sense suggests that brushing the food particles away as quickly as possible would reduce the problems; but such is not the case.


Dentist Jeffrey M. Cole, former president of the Academy of General Dentistry, a dental advocacy group, told the Wall Street Journal, "What we found is that much of the cariogenic substances, those things that cause cavities, are not only sugar-containing, but they are very acidic themselves."


The perfect pH for the mouth is seven, and when you consume something acidic, the pH drops. Even a diet soda can have a pH as low as 2.5 — similar to vinegar — and it can take a while for the mouth to return to a normal level. Acid weakens the surface of the tooth, which can invite decay.


So when it comes to brushing your teeth when the mouth is in an acidic state, it actually exacerbates the problem.


"When you want to make etched glass, you apply an acid or an abrasive and scratch it – that is what happens if you drink a sports drink or a soda, or even wine, and brush right after," says Cole. But if you give your mouth some time – around a half an hour – your saliva will have worked to neutralize the acids.


There are some things that can be done to help instead of immediate brushing. Both rinsing your mouth with water or using an antibacterial mouthwash, Cole suggests, can help balance the pH and prevent plaque from creating more acids.


Chewing sugarless gum is also recommended as some studies have shown that the sweetener, xylitol, has benefits for the teeth. But perhaps the more satisfying option? Eat cheese. Oddly enough, chewing cheese reduces the pH of bacterial plaque. Cole explains that chewy things encourage salivation and proteins in your saliva will buffer acids; as well, naturally occurring chemicals in cheese "encourage the tooth to remineralize."


So the next time your colleague at the office heads to the bathroom to brush his teeth after lunch, you can now smugly assuage your guilt by breaking out a hunk of cheese instead.



Also on HuffPost:




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  • Dried Fruits


    While dried fruits may be a definite <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/28/fruit-chew-snacks-ingredients_n_1304369.html">step up from processed fruit snacks</a>, they are still sticky and high in sugar. That means they not only adhere to teeth easily, but the sugar feeds the bacteria in the mouth, which can promote dental erosion, notes Joy Dubost, Ph.D., R.D., a spokesperson for the American Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. "I'm not saying don't eat them, but just brush your teeth afterward," Dubost says. Messina adds that regular fresh fruits don't typically have this problem because -- even though they still have sugar -- chewing them up promotes saliva and they don't stick to the teeth. "Fruits are generally pretty safe because they're good for overall health <em>and</em> they're chewy, so your average fruit has some substance to it and we chew through it, causing us to salivate more," Messina says. "Saliva is a good thing because it has washing action and it's a nautral buffer [to] acid."




  • Sugary Drinks


    Sugary drinks, such as sodas and sports drinks, are especially bad for teeth when sipping for long periods of time. "If I have a soft drink or sports drink and I'm sipping it every 20 minutes, my teeth are getting bathed with a constant layer of acid," Messina says. "So sitting down and drinking it all at once, or with a meal, is better than snacking or sipping throughout a meal." For this reason, Dubost recommends that parents don't fill their kids' sippy cups with sugary drinks, since kids, whose teeth are still developing, tend to sip at those drinks over long periods of time.




  • Hard Candies


    For the same reason sipping on sodas all day is bad for teeth, hard candies aren't ideal for oral health, Dubost notes. These sweets pack a double whammy in that they not only stick to the teeth, but they also linger in the mouth for a long time as you wait for them to dissolve.




  • Alcohol


    You may not realize it, but alcohol can be bad for the teeth, as it causes <a href="http://www.yalemedicalgroup.org/stw/Page.asp?PageID=STW001565">natural saliva production</a> to decrease, according to the Yale Medical Group. And again, saliva helps to wash away food particles and provides a buffer against acid. People who are alcoholics may <a href="http://www.thefix.com/content/sober-teeth?page=all">experience dental and gum disease</a> since "alcohol irritates all the soft tissue in the mouth and it decreases the amount of natural saliva," Dr. Parimal Nagjee, a dentist in Beverly Hills, <a href="http://www.thefix.com/content/sober-teeth?page=all">told The Fix</a>. "In terms of the tissue, the skin of the mouth is very delicate and the alcohol is corrosive to the gums, cheeks and skin. It can affect the way the tissue cells divide, which is why people who drink heavily have a greater chance of getting mouth or throat cancer.”




  • Citrus/Acidic Foods


    Foods high in acid, such as citrus or tomatoes, can promote tooth decay, especially when eaten alone, Dubost notes. But these foods are fine to eat so long as you flush your mouth with water after consuming them in order to buffer the acid. Citrus not only has acid, but also sugar -- and people who have a habit of sucking on lemons or limes are actually harmfully bathing their teeth in acid, Messina says. "If you look in their mouths, their teeth have a shiny, glossy surface -- that's from constant bathing with the acids," he says. "They will have almost a peculiar look in that you'll see it on the front surfaces of their teeth, but not the back sides of the lower front teeth because those are under the tongue -- and the tongue protects the surface of teeth."




  • Starchy Foods


    Starchy foods, such as potato chips and white bread, easily get trapped in teeth, which can then <a href="http://www.yalemedicalgroup.org/stw/Page.asp?PageID=STW001565">feed the bacteria</a> that make up plaque, according to the Yale Medical Group.




  • Coffee


    Not only do drinks like coffee and tea stain the teeth, they also make the teeth stickier -- meaning more food particles can latch on, Messina says.




  • Worst Foods For Your Teeth


    Dr. Gore recalls the food and beverages with the most harmful effects on your teeth.