Acid Reflux And Teeth: Keeping Your Smile Looking Nice
Acid reflux is a painful digestive condition that churns acid from the stomach, into the throat, and often into the mouth. You may not realize, but acid reflux can do damage to your teeth just as much as it impacts the rest of your health. Over time, your teeth can wear away as the enamel is eaten by the acid. For that reason, you need to take care to avoid the need for cosmetic dentistry to restore broken or damaged teeth. Here are some things you can do to help keep your teeth healthy despite acid reflux:
Adequately Treat Your Condition
If you have acid reflux, the best way to save your teeth is to adequately treat your acid reflux with medication. You need to see your primary care doctor for a treatment plan. You may be able to control the acid reflux with over-the-counter medication. If your case is severe, prescription medication and regular monitoring will be necessary.
You can also control your acid reflux by avoiding trigger foods and drinks that bring on an attack. Avoid ingesting items with high acid content. This includes carbonated drinks, citrus products, and sugar.
Keep Your Mouth Clean
One of the worst things you can do is let acid sit on your teeth for too long. To help keep your teeth healthy, you need to get the acid out of your mouth as quickly as possible. After you have an attack of acid reflux, gargle with some mouthwash. If you are out and about without access to mouthwash, you can swish your mouth with some water. Either of these options is good for your teeth. Also, brush your teeth as soon as you can to remove any acid you may have missed when you rinsed your mouth.
Monitor Your Back Teeth
Acid does the most damage to the teeth it comes into contact with first. Over time, the acid from the reflux will start to wear out your back teeth. These are the most important teeth in your mouth, as they are responsible for chewing your food for proper digestion. When you do not chew your food well enough, you can trigger an acid reflux attack, creating a vicious cycle. If your back teeth begin to wear down due to acid, you may want to have your dentist cap them or have them bonded to help protect them.
Acid reflux can put a damper on your bright smile. In addition to taking the above steps, you may want to visit a cosmetic dentist to help reshape and whiten any teeth that have suffered damage due to acid exposure.
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