Beverage straws are widely used today. When you have a drink outside, the straw can provide you an easy and hygienic way to drink your beverage. So how does drinking with a straw affect your teeth? Is a straw good or bad for your dental health?
To answer these questions, we’ve created a list of the pros and cons of drinking through a straw.
What are the Benefits of Drinking with a Straw?
Drinking beverages through a straw tends to be better for your oral health for a number of reasons, and can also be beneficial for other aspects of your overall health. Some of the main benefits of drinking through a straw are:
Prevents staining of the front teeth: When you drink with a straw, the contact between the drink and your front teeth is reduced, especially if you place the straw on your front teeth. Dark-colored and beverages such as tea and coffee are all known to cause tooth discoloration, and when you sip from a glass, they completely coat your teeth. Therefore, by drinking beverages through a straw to pass them through your front teeth, you reduce their ability to discolor.
Protects teeth from acid damage: Soft drinks, fruit juice, alcohol and lemon juice all have high PH. Over time, this acidity can dissolve tooth enamel, leading to tooth sensitivity and other dental health problems. By drinking these drinks with a straw, you can reduce the exposure of the tooth enamel to these acids, directing them to the back of the mouth and reducing their contact with your teeth.
Protects teeth from sugar: When you sip a sweet drink from a glass, the drink comes into direct contact with your entire mouth, coating your teeth with sugar. Caries-causing bacteria feed on this sugar, putting you at risk of developing tooth decay and requiring fillings or other dental procedures. Drinking with a straw minimizes the exposure of your teeth to sugar when the straw is positioned towards the back of your mouth.
Promotes hydration: Many people find that they drink more water when they drink through a straw throughout the day. That’s because it’s easier to sip through a straw than to tip a glass over your face. Drinking water is very important for both your oral health and your overall health.
Improves hygiene: Drinking with a straw is more hygienic than putting your mouth directly into a glass or can. In a restaurant, glasses can harbor bacteria if not washed properly. Harmful bacteria can also accumulate on the lids of aluminum cans during storage, transportation or transportation in the store. A straw saves you from having to put your lips on a surface that may be covered with bacteria you don’t want in your mouth.
Is there any harm in drinking with a straw?
While drinking through a straw has many benefits for your dental health, there are a few drawbacks to keep in mind:
May cause staining on posterior teeth: While straws can help reduce discoloration on your anterior teeth, their use does not completely remove staining. The drink may instead touch your back teeth, which can cause staining in other areas. If you place the straw in front of your front teeth, they will also be susceptible to staining.
Wrinkles around the lips: Drinking with a straw requires you to pucker your lips. This can lead to wrinkles around the lips, called smokers’ lips. The term refers to wrinkles around the mouth from years of smoking. The same wrinkles can also occur from repeated use of straws, as the lip movement is similar.
Concentrate the beverage flow, causing cavities: Depending on the way the straw is positioned, a more concentrated liquid stream may cause one or more threads to strike repeatedly. This can cause uneven tooth decay and create spaces at the back of the mouth or between the teeth. It is very important to position your straw so that your drink does not hit your teeth.
