Diet sodas have long been touted as healthier alternatives, but over the past few years, there has been a rise in sodas that actually claim to have health benefits. Prebiotic and probiotic sodas claim self-space by smoothies and sparkling water, and they typically have oh-so-trendy packaging. But are these healthy sodas good for your teeth? 

What Are ‘Healthy Sodas’?

‘Healthy sodas’ are the ones that say they are prebiotic and/or probiotic. Those with a soft spot for soda rejoice at the idea that versions of their favorite flavors might actually be good for them, rather than just taste good. 

These sodas typically have fiber in them, either from apple cider vinegar or another ingredient, like marshmallow root. They’re said to improve your gut health, and ergo, your overall health. 

Are Healthy Sodas Actually Healthy?

If you’re wary about the idea of healthy sodas, you’re not the only one. Many things that claim to be healthy or better for you than the alternatives aren’t actually. 

Take fluoride-free toothpaste, for example. Many people think that fluoride is bad for you. However, the amount of fluoride you’d need to ingest for it to be toxic is far beyond what’s in your toothpaste. As a matter of fact, you need fluoride to prevent tooth decay and remineralize your enamel! So, opting for fluoride-free toothpaste can give you fresher breath, but won’t work as well to prevent cavities. 

Enter in healthy sodas. Normal soda tastes good, but that’s pretty much its only purpose. Do prebiotic and probiotic sodas actually have health benefits? In short: yes. Compared to traditional sodas, they can feed the good bacteria in your gut, which can improve your gut health.

What’s important to note here is that most people get enough fiber in their diet already, without needing to add a healthy soda to the mix. These sodas can also increase your sugar consumption. If you’re not used to fiber, they can cause gas and bloating initially. 

But all-in-all? If you want a soda you can feel good about drinking, prebiotic and probiotic sodas are a better choice than traditional sodas. 

Are Healthy Sodas Good For Your Teeth?

So, healthy sodas can improve your gut health… But are they any good for your teeth?

We’re often cautioned against drinking soda, due to its high sugar content and how acidic it is. Both of these factors combined can soften your enamel. Once lost, enamel doesn’t grow back, so it’s important to do what you can to strengthen and protect it. 

Are healthy sodas any different? 

About Apple Cider Vinegar

Apple cider vinegar is an ingredient in several different healthy sodas. It can lower blood glucose levels, has anti-microbial properties, and may boost weight loss. However, it’s highly acidic. What this means is that it can erode your tooth enamel. 

In sodas, it’s diluted, which helps, but you still want to drink it through a straw to play it safe. This is because when you drink through a straw, less of the beverage makes contact with your teeth. 

About Citric Acrid

This is one of the main culprits behind why traditional sodas are bad for your teeth. Some healthy sodas have citric acid on the ingredient label, just like normal sodas. You should take all the precautions you do with normal sodas in order to prevent dental erosion, like minimizing your consumption of them, not sipping on them throughout the day, and using a straw whenever possible. 

About Carbonation

When drinks are carbonated, they have carbonic acid. This by itself typically won’t hurt your teeth, so if you’re worried about whether healthy sodas are good for your teeth because of carbonation, it’s likely that this isn’t a factor. You more want to focus on the acidity, sugars, sweeteners, and other additives. 

For instance, it was found that water and sparkling water were about the same in how they affect your teeth. Sparkling water is slightly more acidic, but not by much. So, carbonation alone isn’t necessarily bad for your teeth, it’s what else is added that can increase your risk of enamel damage and cavities.

Are They Better Than Normal Sodas?

Whenever it comes to something that impacts your health, it’s best to consult with a medical professional. Different things affect people differently, so what could be perfectly healthy for one person could be bad for you. If you want to know whether or not healthy sodas are a good choice for you, it’s best to talk to your doctor and dentist.

That said, typically, yes, healthy sodas are better alternatives than traditional sodas. Consult with a medical professional if you have any questions about healthy options for you, personally. 

Keep Your Teeth Healthy With VIP Smiles

VIP Smiles is here to help you keep your smile bright and white. If you have any questions about what is good for your teeth or how you can minimize dental erosion from drinking sodas, please don’t hesitate to ask. We’ll provide you with personalized advice so that you can do what you need to to keep your teeth healthy. Contact us today to schedule an appointment.

Everyone knows that you need to brush your teeth in order to keep them clean and in good condition. However, if you get a crown or a veneer, you may not know if you need to worry so much about the daily brushing. They’re fake teeth, after all. Doesn’t it make sense that it doesn’t matter whether or not you brush crowns and veneers then? Can fake teeth like these even decay?

However, you need to brush crowns and veneers. You need to brush crowns and veneers in order to care for the teeth under them and beside them, as well as to look after your general oral health.

Here’s what you need to know about why you need to brush crowns and veneers. 

Why Do You Need To Brush Crowns And Veneers?

There are some people who think that when you get crowns and veneers and dental implants and the like that you don’t need to be as vigilant about your dental care. Perhaps you think you don’t need to pay much heed to brushing the area the crowns and veneers are. 

If you’re someone who has had extensive dental work done, such as having veneers put on all of your natural teeth, you may think that you’re good and that you only need to brush your teeth to take care of morning breath.

The reason why you need to brush crowns and veneers is because your natural teeth are still under them. They need to be cared for, as do your gums and the teeth around them. 

The Teeth Under Crowns And Veneers

In order to better understand why you need to brush crowns and veneers, it’s helpful to understand the process behind getting them. While dental implants are installed after extracting your natural tooth, crowns and veneers cover your natural teeth.

Getting Crowns

When you get a dental crown, your dentist will remove part of your tooth structure. They reshape it so that the crown can fit overtop and between the adjacent teeth. 

Getting Veneers

When you get veneers, your dentist will shave away part of your tooth enamel. This is so that the veneers can fit seamlessly onto your natural tooth. 

Dentists don’t remove your natural teeth when they place crowns and veneers. This is because as advanced as implants are, nothing can truly replace your natural teeth. Dentists will do everything in their power to preserve your natural teeth, such as by placing a crown over one.

What Happens If You Don’t Brush Crowns And Veneers?

If you don’t brush crowns and veneers, you can expect the same issues that can happen when you don’t brush your teeth in general. 

Plaque Buildup

You can experience plaque buildup which can then lead to a cavity. Treating said cavity can be a more extensive and expensive procedure, as your dentist may need to remove the crown or veneer in order to do so. 

Gum Disease

Even if you think that you don’t need to brush crowns and veneers because your natural teeth are covered, your gums aren’t. In order to prevent gum disease, you need to ensure that you are brushing your teeth twice daily, flossing once daily, and going to your dental cleanings every six months.

Staining

Just because crowns and veneers aren’t natural doesn’t mean they can’t be stained. You need to take proper care of your teeth and avoid smoking and certain foods and drinks in order to prevent staining.

Do Crowns And Veneers Require Specialized Care?

Now that we have gone over why you need to brush crowns and veneers, you may be wondering whether or not they need special care on top of your normal routine. 

In general, you just need to look after these the same as you would your natural teeth. You need to be careful and limit your consumption of sticky and sugary foods. You also need to avoid biting things that are hard or using your teeth as tools. Veneers and crowns need to be replaced after a certain number of years, so you will also want to ensure that you have this done as needed.

Dental Care In Syracuse, UT

VIP Smiles provides dental services in Syracuse, UT, including dental crowns and dental veneers. If you have any questions about caring for your teeth, don’t hesitate to schedule an appointment today.

If you look up why white teeth are so attractive, you’ll come across a plethora of articles reiterating the same thing: white teeth are so desirable because they’re good for attracting partners and are a form of “peacocking”, as it were. While there is truth to this, there’s a lot more nuance to the perception of whitened teeth as attractive than these articles talk about. 

Here, we’ll go into some of the factors involved in why white teeth are so desirable in North American society and the differences in what has been deemed attractive in teeth across time and cultures. Let’s get into it!

Whitened Teeth Affect How People Perceive You

Now, we’re overwhelmed by ads for teeth whitening. It’s become an ingrained part of U.S. society that whitened teeth equal attractiveness, affluence, youth, and good health. Your teeth affect how people perceive you and the opportunities available to you. 

If you have crooked teeth in a natural or yellowed shade, people make snap judgments that this means you are of a lower socioeconomic status, that perhaps you are older than you look, and that you don’t really care about your health or appearance. Even if you do take care of your teeth, if you don’t whiten or straighten them, this is how you can be perceived. 

However, did you know that white, straight teeth weren’t and aren’t always viewed this way? In some cultures throughout the world, the American obsession with a perfect smile is strange and raises suspicion, as some cultures view it as artificial. In Japan, for instance, snaggleteeth are seen as endearing and a sign of youth. In Britain, there’s a preference for more natural smiles. 

Here in the United States, though, people with whitened teeth are viewed in a more positive light than those with more natural shades, let alone yellowed or blackened teeth. 

White Teeth Weren’t Always Seen As Beautiful

Cultures throughout the world have attributed social meaning to the appearance of your teeth. In Mesoamerican societies, people would file their teeth and inlay semi-precious gems into them. In Balinese society, the upper canine teeth would be filed down. The aesthetics and modifications of teeth have long symbolized social status, beauty, youth, and rite of passage. Teeth whitening in the United States is no different.

While white teeth are all the rage now, in Elizabethan England, Southeast Asia, and Japan, blackened teeth were actually seen as a beauty enhancement and a sign of wealth. This may seem baffling to people in the United States nowadays because if your teeth are black, that means that you’re suffering from severe dental decay. How on Earth could that be desirable?

However, these cultures had their reasons for seeing blackened teeth as attractive.

In Elizabethan England, blackened teeth were associated with royalty and affluence. This is due to Queen Elizabeth I’s fondness of sugary treats and how expensive sugar was at the time. Women would use products to blacken their teeth in order to emulate the Queen’s decayed teeth.

In Southeast Asia, blackened teeth helped to camouflage canines, which were associated with evil and animal instincts. People would use over 60 different types of plants in order to achieve this beauty enhancement. Interestingly, the items used to blacken teeth also helped to improve oral health. 

In Japan, teeth blackening was born of the desire to prevent tooth decay and was seen as a sign of beauty. It was also used to signify sexual maturity in women over 18 years old. While banned by the Meiji government in 1870, some people still blacken their teeth in Oceanic and Southeast Asian cultures. 

Where Did The Idea That White Teeth Are Desirable Come From?

Given that older cultures could improve their dental health with teeth blackening practices, you may wonder how white teeth came to be attributed with good health. It’s a great question! 

As knowledge of dental health grew, it became known that the straighter your teeth are, the easier it is to prevent dental caries. It also became known that naturally darkened teeth or teeth with natural black spots were signs of aging and poor dental health. Enter in the beginnings of a societal obsession with white, straight teeth. 

Why Do Americans Find White Teeth So Desirable?

There are a few reasons for why whitened teeth are so highly sought after in American society, from attracting partners, to the social construct of power, to adhering to societal ideals, to the growth of the cosmetic dental industry, to preserving dental health, and more. As you’ll see, these all tie together.

#1. Attracting Partners

Ah, yes, the reason that every article about why white teeth are so desirable focuses on. It’s true, though. In studies done comparing people with decayed teeth, people with teeth in natural shades, and people with whitened teeth, people with white teeth were viewed in the most positive light. 

Americans place significant importance on physical appearance as a reflection of the type of person that you are. For instance, if you are overweight, people tend to think that this means you are lazy with no self-control, while if you are thin, people take this to mean that you take care of yourself and have great self-discipline. It’s the same with straight, white teeth. 

People who have a “good” smile have an easier time attracting potential partners because straight, white teeth say that you care about how you look and about your general health. 

Additionally, Americans are obsessed with youth. Your teeth naturally darken as you age due to how the enamel wears down, so white teeth are seen as more youthful, and ergo, more desirable.

#2. The Social Construct Of Power

In our surveillance culture, people are constantly aware of being watched, which serves to deter crime and as a form of social control. While it may seem strange to think about the social construct of power in relation to whitened teeth, the subconscious sense of being watched and awareness of how others perceive you coupled with the societal emphasis on the appearance of your teeth makes people hyperaware of how their teeth look.

People don’t want to be seen as abnormal or judged. Since white, straight teeth are seen as the norm, if you don’t have these, the “dental gaze” keeps you mindful of your teeth’s appearance. This is reinforced by the fact that people with whiter teeth typically have more opportunities and make more money than those who do not. White teeth can be a way to give yourself a leg up to achieve more power.

#3. Adhering To Social Ideals

The beauty industry is set to be worth $571.1 billion dollars in 2023. It’s constantly changing, as can be seen in how glamorous makeup was seen as the height of beauty in 2014, along with skinny jeans and peplum tops, but now, people prefer more natural makeup and Y2K trends. Americans place great importance on their appearance, and your appearance plays a big role in the course of your life.

Straight, white teeth are a social ideal that have continued to rise in importance over the past century. From adverts attributing white teeth to glory in war and career success at the start of the 20th century to today’s professional teeth whitening and the prevalence of over-the-counter teeth whitening products, people forever strive towards whiter teeth in order to be seen as more beautiful according to our society’s ideals. 

White teeth are presented as a way to make the American dream a reality.

#4. The Growth Of The Cosmetic Dental Industry

Ask older people, and they’ll likely have a more negative view of the dental industry than younger generations. Given how painful dental treatments used to be, this is no surprise. However, as science has progressed, so too has the prevalence of dental treatments as part of your standard healthcare (though not, unfortunately, typically covered under most standard health insurance plans). 

As the dental industry has progressed, so bloomed cosmetic dentistry. With increasing desire for a “perfect” smile, dentists used their expertise to help people. Now, many dentists specialize in cosmetic dentistry and others offer it in addition to normal dental services. They take pride in helping people gain more confidence in their smiles and improving their patients’ lives in more ways than the traditional ones.

This growth of cosmetic dentistry places it in a unique position. Given that it is, as the name implies, cosmetic and not necessarily needed for your health, it risks treading outside the realm of healthcare.

#5. Preserving Dental Health

As we’ve touched on earlier, good health is forever attractive. However, it is more difficult for people with crooked teeth to prevent dental decay than those with straight teeth. This is because of how food particles can more easily get stuck in your teeth and how the angles can make it more difficult to properly brush and floss your teeth. 

Additionally, yellow teeth or teeth with black spots can result from lack of care. The black spots are signs of decay, where your enamel has eroded away. Yellow teeth can result simply from eating highly pigmented foods and drinking staining beverages, like coffee and soda, even if you’re careful to brush. However, yellow teeth can also indicate vitamin deficiencies and poor dental hygiene. 

Hence, if you have straight, white teeth, this is taken as a sign that you take good care of your teeth, so they’re viewed in a very desirable light. 

#6. Perception Of Affluence

Cosmetic dentistry isn’t necessary to your dental health, and as such, people of lower socioeconomic status don’t place as high value on it as people with more money. It can be expensive, and many people cannot afford it. Thus, if you have straight, white teeth, this can cause people to think you have more money. Since money affects how people treat you, if people think that you have it, they’ll treat you with more respect and deference than they would otherwise.

Do You Want White Teeth?

As you can see, there are many reasons why white teeth are so desirable! However, it can be difficult to maintain white teeth on your own, especially if you have a fondness for coffee or blueberries. Fortunately, cosmetic dentists are here to help you feel more confident in your smiles. 

VIP Smiles offers a variety of cosmetic dentistry services, including teeth whitening. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you smile with confidence!