Chewing on ice, popping popcorn in the mouth, and biting off the corn on cobs are summertime traditions. But these and other foods could harm your teeth, even chip them.
It seems hard to believe your teeth aren’t hard enough to avoid being damaged by mere frozen water. But the enamel (the hard outer surface) is thin at the tips and chewing ice cubes can actually lead to hairline cracks. If this happens, you will notice that your teeth are suddenly very sensitive to hot and cold. If the cubes are in a drink, just let them melt down a bit. Incidentally, if you feel the need to chew on ice frequently, it could be a sign of iron deficiency (the reasons are not clear).
There is nothing wrong with eating fluffy popcorn anytime of the year. But the unpopped popcorn kernels can also be rough on your teeth if you bite into them, potentially causing fractures or breaking a filling, exposing the nerves in the soft tissue of the core. Before sitting down to watch a favorite TV series or new movie, shake the bowl to make the kernels sink to the bottom.
Corn on the cob might not seem dangerous, but especially when raw, the effort to tear off the corn with teeth can result in their being damaged.
Hard candy isn’t really meant to be bitten into as is. It’s supposed to melt in the mouth over a long time, soothing the throat, stimulating saliva for those with dry mouth, or allowing you to savor it slowly as it dissolves. There is a reason some of these are called jawbreakers. If these types of candies lead to a chipped tooth, then treatments such as veneers or crowns can help.
Nuts and seeds out of the shell could chip if you don’t chew them slowly and carefully or grind them up to add to salad, soups, and smoothies. You also risk damaging teeth if you use them to crack the shells. Likewise, nutrition bars that contain nuts not only are a threat, but because the bars are sticky, slices of nuts could lodge between teeth, causing gum irritation.
Olives, cherries, peaches and other foods with large pits present clear hazards. Buy pitted ones and chew carefully, since factories can make mistakes.
Hard breads, including pretzels and biscotti, could easily break teeth. Best to eat them when softer right out of the oven or dipped into soup or olive oil.
Beef jerky might be a surprising addition to this list, but the difficult chewing involved can both chip them and result in dislocation of the temporomandibular (TMJ) joint (which connects the jaw to the skull).
