What Not to Eat and Drink with a Bridge

So you’ve taken the leap and received a dental bridge! Congratulations on making that choice. With careful attention to your bridge and oral health generally, you can expect your bridge to last up to 15 years. Of course, you can shorten that lifespan by neglecting your teeth and gums or abusing your dental bridge. Your dentist in NW Calgary will give you careful and detailed instructions about how to care for your bridge. They’ll also examine your dental bridge in NW Calgary at every checkup to be sure all is ship-shape. Between those appointments, though, there are some things you can do to keep your bridge in the best possible condition – including watching what you eat.

Dental bridges near you are designed to withstand the day-to-day wear and tear and stress exerted by eating, biting and chewing. However well designed and well-suited the materials from which bridges are made, there’s no denying that your mouth is a dynamic place that places a lot of stress on a bridge. To minimize that stress and to maximize the lifespan of your bridge, here’re some foods to avoid.

Sticky foods, like chewing gum and caramels

This caution is especially true if you’ve received your bridge recently and the bond between your bridge and its adjacent teeth may not be entirely secure – or if that bond has become weaker with time. (That’s something a dentist near you will watch for at checkups.) Chewing gum, caramels and other sticky foods and candies threaten to get caught between or even below a bridge. Not only can that physically dislodge dental work, but it can also leave sugars and even bacteria in hard-to-clean places that can fuel tooth decay or gum disease.

Sugary foods

Sugary foods are a potential problem for the reason described in the “Sticky foods” paragraph, but for another reason, too. Sugary foods can threaten the integrity of a dental bridge not because of how they affect your bridge itself, but because they can cause tooth decay or gum disease in or around adjacent teeth that hold the crowns that might be supporting your bridge. For that reason, a diet that minimizes the intake of sugary foods is ideal for ensuring the integrity of a bridge. When you do indulge in a sugary treat, though, be sure to brush, rinse and floss thoroughly – whilst paying special attention to teeth adjacent to any dental work, including your bridge.

Hard foods like nuts, popcorn kernels, ice and bones

Particularly hard substances like bones, ice, popcorn kernels and nuts can cause physical damage to a dental bridge or its underlying structure. On a related topic, pencils and fingernails are also things to avoid biting – not just because they’re hard but because biting them exposes your bridge to sustained pressure that can put its structure at risk. While we’re on the topic of sustained pressure, ask your dentist in NW Calgary to tell you if they see any signs that you suffer from sleep bruxism – grinding your teeth or clenching your jaw as you sleep. Sleep bruxism can damage dental bridges, dislodge fillings, crack teeth and even cause headaches and face, head and neck pain. If you experience sleep bruxism, ask a dentist near you to provide you with a customized nightguard to protect your teeth, jaw and dental work.

Drinks like red wine, coffee and colas

One of the advantages of the best quality dental bridges is their stain resistance. That does not mean, though, that they’re completely impervious to being stained. Repeated or prolonged exposure to red wine, coffee, cola – and nicotine from smoking – can stain dental work. To prolong the appearance of your bridge – and appearance is an important factor in their function, let’s face it – avoid foods and drinks that will stain them. And, as we mentioned before, when you do indulge in a glass of red wine or coffee, be sure to brush your teeth thoroughly as soon as possible afterwards.