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4 Tooth-Healthy Tips for Your Next Barbecue Party
websitebuilder • August 31, 2021
The neighborhood barbecue party enjoys enormous popularity, not just during the summer and early fall but whenever the weather permits this kind of fun, casual culinary event. However, your teeth may not have as much fun as the rest of you if you indulge in the wrong kinds of foods, beverages, and eating behaviors.
If you want to serve up both a wonderful time and a tooth-healthy event for one and all, you can benefit from picking up some useful pointers that might spare you (and your guests) an extra visit to the dentist's office. Take the following four tips to heart for the next time you entertain outdoors.
1. Go Easy on the Sauces and Marinades
Typical barbecue fare such as grilled meats and vegetables can actually prove quite healthy for your teeth. Meats contain plenty of protein and other nutrients while also forcing you to chew, which creates more saliva. Saliva helps dilute sugars and acids in your mouth, reducing your risk of tooth decay.
Unfortunately, many outdoor chefs like to make generous use of barbecue sauces that could undo those benefits. Barbecue sauce typically contains lots of sugar, a natural food source for decay-causing bacteria. You can get equally tasty results from a dry rub that imparts flavor to grilled meat without the added sugar. Marinades can also contribute to a different kind of dental threat. The same acids that so effectively flavor and tenderize meats can also damage your teeth by eroding their protective layer of enamel. Instead of marinating your meat before the party, apply a dry rub for flavor and tenderize the servings by hand.
Typical barbecue fare such as grilled meats and vegetables can actually prove quite healthy for your teeth. Meats contain plenty of protein and other nutrients while also forcing you to chew, which creates more saliva. Saliva helps dilute sugars and acids in your mouth, reducing your risk of tooth decay.
Unfortunately, many outdoor chefs like to make generous use of barbecue sauces that could undo those benefits. Barbecue sauce typically contains lots of sugar, a natural food source for decay-causing bacteria. You can get equally tasty results from a dry rub that imparts flavor to grilled meat without the added sugar. Marinades can also contribute to a different kind of dental threat. The same acids that so effectively flavor and tenderize meats can also damage your teeth by eroding their protective layer of enamel. Instead of marinating your meat before the party, apply a dry rub for flavor and tenderize the servings by hand.
2. Don't Open Objects With Your Mouth
Any party that serves bottled drinks runs the risk of misguided guests, or even misguided hosts, showing off by removing a bottle cap with their teeth. This activity can chip or break a tooth instantly, potentially forcing the sadder-but wiser individual to get a permanent crown. Serve drinks in cans instead.
Opening other common party goods with your teeth, from bun packages to bags of chips, can also harm your teeth. Even though thin plastic probably won't cause a tooth fracture, performing this feat often enough can still promote enamel wear, eventually weakening teeth. Open packaging with your hands or scissors.
Any party that serves bottled drinks runs the risk of misguided guests, or even misguided hosts, showing off by removing a bottle cap with their teeth. This activity can chip or break a tooth instantly, potentially forcing the sadder-but wiser individual to get a permanent crown. Serve drinks in cans instead.
Opening other common party goods with your teeth, from bun packages to bags of chips, can also harm your teeth. Even though thin plastic probably won't cause a tooth fracture, performing this feat often enough can still promote enamel wear, eventually weakening teeth. Open packaging with your hands or scissors.
3. Think Twice About Corn on the Cob
Corn on the cob makes a natural complement to any outdoor barbecue feast. However, this healthy food can have some unhealthy effects on your teeth, at least in this form. As you dig into the cob with your teeth, you can easily get bits of corn stuck between your teeth, potentially causing discomfort while attracting bacteria.
Even if you've never had dental trouble involving corn on the cob, your party guests may have different experiences. This food can prove especially problematic for individuals with dentures (which may slip or trap corn under the denture plate) or braces (which can trap and hang onto the bits of corn).
Thankfully, corn lovers have a simple solution to this problem. Simply serve your corn off the cob, either by preparing it that way or by grilling corn on the cob and then scraping the corn off of the ears.
Corn on the cob makes a natural complement to any outdoor barbecue feast. However, this healthy food can have some unhealthy effects on your teeth, at least in this form. As you dig into the cob with your teeth, you can easily get bits of corn stuck between your teeth, potentially causing discomfort while attracting bacteria.
Even if you've never had dental trouble involving corn on the cob, your party guests may have different experiences. This food can prove especially problematic for individuals with dentures (which may slip or trap corn under the denture plate) or braces (which can trap and hang onto the bits of corn).
Thankfully, corn lovers have a simple solution to this problem. Simply serve your corn off the cob, either by preparing it that way or by grilling corn on the cob and then scraping the corn off of the ears.
4. Drink Tooth-Healthy Beverages With Your Barbecue
Sodas and alcoholic beverages seem to make up most of the beverages commonly consumed at barbecue parties. While your guests have every right to drink whatever they may have brought with them, you might want to make sure you keep other, more tooth-healthy beverages on hand as well.
Sugar-sweetened sodas encourage bacterial growth, leading to cavities, while the acids in the sodas erode the enamel and thin the teeth. Alcoholic beverages can dry out the mouth by reducing saliva flow, making your teeth more vulnerable to bacteria. Bottled water or seltzer water both make better dental sense.
Our dental team at Jeffrey L. Erwin DDS can provide you with a wealth of guidance for protecting your teeth, as well as routine exams and any necessary treatments to keep you enjoying your favorite foods for many years to come. Contact us today.
Sodas and alcoholic beverages seem to make up most of the beverages commonly consumed at barbecue parties. While your guests have every right to drink whatever they may have brought with them, you might want to make sure you keep other, more tooth-healthy beverages on hand as well.
Sugar-sweetened sodas encourage bacterial growth, leading to cavities, while the acids in the sodas erode the enamel and thin the teeth. Alcoholic beverages can dry out the mouth by reducing saliva flow, making your teeth more vulnerable to bacteria. Bottled water or seltzer water both make better dental sense.
Our dental team at Jeffrey L. Erwin DDS can provide you with a wealth of guidance for protecting your teeth, as well as routine exams and any necessary treatments to keep you enjoying your favorite foods for many years to come. Contact us today.
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