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The
summer months see TV advertisements for all types for
fruit juices appearing thick and fast. Can you tell which ones
are safe for you and your family?
Teeth do
not like like acid. It makes them dissolve...literally! All juices,
whether they contain sugar or not, whether they are diluted (even very
diluted), concentrated or fresh fruit juices are acids. Drinking juice
therefore dissolves teeth.
Human
teeth aren’t designed to be regularly washed in acid but they can
usually withstand this acid attack if restricted to mealtimes only but the
more often you or your child drink juice then the more likely you are to
cause this sort of wear and it can be dramatic.
Unfortunately,
if the juice also contains sugar then that creates a double whammy of
decay and wear.
Brushing
teeth does NOT protect them against this sort of tooth wear and in fact if
brushing is done after drinking juice then this can make the damage even
worse. Juices should be another mealtime treat only.
Please be
especially aware that juices marked NO ADDED SUGAR are still damaging.
These
types of drink are usually made from raw ingredients with high levels of sugar
present already thus eliminating the need for the manufacturer to add any.
When
looking at the ingredients label of a product anything labeled as Sucrose,
Glucose of Fructose are all sugars and capable causing decay. If you would
like to view a list of safer snacks and drinks click
here. |