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Some of the greatest pleasures of summer are the wonderful foods that become available during this season of fun in the sun: hot corn on the cob, salt water taffy, peanut brittle, kettle corn – they all scream summer fun.

But they can also do a real number on your teeth.

Read below for some typical foods freely available in the summer that can harm your teeth.

• Corn on the cob. As delicious as it is – freshly cooked and slathered in butter – corn on the cob should be avoided in the summer, especially if you have removable dentures or braces. Why? Because biting into the cob can loosen the dentures and/or get in between the denture and your gum, possibly causing an infection if you can’t get at the food particle to remove it. The same goes for braces: bits of corn get stuck in the braces and unless you brush your teeth immediately and thoroughly, the food bits can add to tartar and plaque, which could lead to cavities.

One of summer’s greatest pleasures is enjoying hot corn on the cob slathered in butter. But those kernels can be very unfriendly to your teeth.

• Kettle corn and Cracker Jack-like popcorn. A baseball game on a Sunday afternoon at the professional ballpark often isn’t a real baseball game without a hotdog, a soda and a bag of Cracker Jack candy. But the sticky Cracker Jack popcorn could chip a tooth and popcorn bits can fall between teeth with possible results as described above.
• Peanut brittle. This delicious candy can be very hard to bite upon, risking the danger of a chipped tooth.
• Salt water taffy and extremely chewy candy bars such as Abba-Zaba. We’re not out to pick on particular brands, but taffy-like candy bars such as Abba-Zaba can be so hard to pull a bite from that, if your teeth are even a bit loose, could help loosen them a whole lot more. Taffy and even gum should be avoided by those wearing braces – it’s too easy for the gooey stuff to get caught in the wires.
• Whole apples. There’s little that’s more refreshing than biting into a tart green or red apple on a hot day. The problem is, if you wear braces or dentures, a firm apple can wreak havoc on your teeth.
• Soda drinks. As with apples, enjoying a nice cold glass of cola or other soda is just delicious on a hot summer afternoon. But the citric, carbonic and phosphoric acids in the sodas over time can erode your tooth enamel.

We certainly don’t want to be a summertime Scrooge and tell you that you absolutely shouldn’t enjoy these delicious foods at all. But forewarned is fore-armed: decide for yourself. Certainly having the occasional box of Cracker Jack or an Abba-Zaba bar won’t do too much – if any damage.

What’s more, it’s often easy to make just a few adjustments in order to enjoy summer’s delicious bounty. You could, for example, remove the corn kernels from the cob before eating. Cut the apple into slices. Cut a taffy bar or peanut brittle into really small pieces, and so on.

You should indulge in the glorious foods of summer; we’re just advising that you be careful not to overindulge.

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