How to get the benefits of lemon water without damaging your teeth?
Dr. D.Sendhil Nathan MDS, DNB Prosthodontics And Implantology
Many healthcare practitioners recommend lemon water as a healthy morning drink due to the nutritional value it holds. The drink prepared with the mixture of juice extracted from lemon and water has various health benefits such as detoxification, improving the skin quality, streamlining the digestion process, dissolving gallstones, supports weight loss, and much more.
In simply, this is the perfect drink to start a day for health-conscious people.
Meanwhile, this beverage will damage your teeth if you do not consume it in moderation. We noticed enamel erosion in many patients who have excessive consumption of lemon water.
Don’t worry. You can enjoy this healthy drink without damaging the teeth with few adjustments. Keep reading to know more.
Is lemon water bad for teeth?
Similar to nutritional compounds such as calcium, potassium, phosphorous, Vitamin C, magnesium, and Pectin, lemon is rich in Citric acid. In general, food and drinks high in citric acid are quite rough on the teeth enamel so that the enamel layer wears down and leads to enamel erosion.
Enamel layer is the hard outer covering of a tooth. When it wears away, the soft & sensitive layers underneath it are exposed so that teeth sensitivity, bacterial invasion occurs.
To avert such consequences, you have to modify the way you are preparing lemon water. Let us see.
Tips to enjoy lemon water without damaging your teeth
1) Don’t take bottled lemon water
The bottled lemon juices available in the market are concentrated fluids and contain less nutritional value. In the meantime, the manufacturers add sweetening agents like sugar for flavor. You might know that sugar tends to proliferate bacteria in the mouth and increases the risk of cavities.
So prepare the refreshing drink yourselves with fresh lemons.
2) Add more water to dilute
Normally, one cup of water is added to the juice squeezed from half lemon. If you want to dilute its acidic contents, add 4 cups of water. This approach helps in diluting the citric acid alone whilst you can get the health benefits of this refreshing drink.
3) Don’t use warm water
Adding lemon juice to warm water is widely recommended because it helps in stimulating metabolism.
In the perspective of dental care, the combination of acidic substances and warm water will have various damaging effects on teeth. So we suggest adding some ice cubes to cool down the lemon water or simply add cold water.
If you don’t want to consume iced lemon water, then add water at room temperature.
4) Add honey for sweet flavor
Health professionals recommend to make sure the lemon water does not contain any sugar particles. In contrast, few people like to add a pinch of sugar to lemon juice for a sweet flavor.
If you are eager to sweeten the lemon water you prepared, try sugar substitutes or add a few drops of honey. It is an organic sweetener and holds many medicinal properties on your oral health as well.
Bottom line
Some healthy foods and drinks have damaging effects on teeth but many people are unaware of this fact. Despite lemon juice has a plethora of advantages on your health, it is quite detrimental to your teeth. Hence you should adjust a bit in the way you are preparing this refreshing beverage as we discussed.
Remember that if you take lemon water early in the morning, don’t brush your teeth immediately after that. It is because the abrasive agents associated with citric acid exist on the teeth. While brushing, they will erode the enamel even though you prepare the drink as we suggested here.
So wait for at least 30 minutes to brush after drinking this refreshing drink.
