Acid erosion can damage your tooth permanently, and it can be quite painful as well.
All foods that you take, from breakfast to dinner, have acids with varying concentration and strength, and they are most likely to damage teeth if you do not take the right precautions.
The hard tissues of the teeth, when frequently exposed to the acids, can erode away and as such, the part of the tooth can wear away which will expose the deeper layers of the teeth. It is tooth erosion which can make the teeth sensitive and cause them discomfort and pain while drinking and eating
Enamel is the tooth’s external covering, and it gets affected by acids causing acid erosion of the teeth. Enamel, when it wears away, cracks or even chips, and cannot regenerate by itself as it is a translucent hard tissue that doesn’t have any cells.
It is the layer of the enamel on the teeth which functions as a barrier to protect the teeth, and when it wears or damaged away, the teeth lose their protection barrier.
Enamel can be damaged through various ways.
• Having bacteria in the mouth that can lead to cavity forming
• It can also wear away as a result of continued force from night grinding or an incorrect brushing technique
• It can weather away in the aftermath of a physical blow or a bad habit such as chewing on a pen or nails
• The teeth are being exposed to high acid concentrations
The enamel can get eroded when it is exposed to an acidic environment for extended periods of time. Due to this, the enamel can weather away leading to the inner teeth getting exposed. Because it is crucial to understand as to what erodes the teeth enamel so that it can be prevented. Some of the known causes are –
• Frequent consumption of food drinks can lead the teeth enamel to erode away. That’s because the acids that are present in the fruit juices are more erosive than the battery acid. It is relatively harmless in small amounts, but when it is regularly consumed, then it can be a problem.
• When soft drinks and carbonated drinks are consumed regularly or quite excessively, then they can erode away the tooth enamel as they contain high levels of citric and phosphoric acids.
• There are also many medications which are known to erode the teeth enamel. Some examples are aspirins and antihistamines.
• A high acid diet can also bring about tooth erosion. Consuming foods that are high in sugar or starch can expose the teeth to harmful agents and which may cause the surface of the teeth to erode away.
It is usually saliva which protects the teeth by coating the teeth with protective calcium plus minerals but when excessive amounts of acids are taken, then the natural efforts of the salivary glands may prove to be inefficient and which in turn will cause the teeth harm by eroding away its enamel.
