You can imagine it now. Chewing away without a care in the world. When all of a sudden "Crunch. Ow. What's that gritty thing.... Oh..."
We've seen hundreds of chipped teeth and lost fillings. We've done literally thousands of fillings, and sadly a few extractions too. So what are the most common foods that cause chipped teeth? We "crunched" the numbers (pardon the pun) and count down from 9th to the number one most common offender:
9) Wasabi peas: Coming in at number nine Wasabi peas. They seem the perfect size to nestle into the grooves of our teeth, and they're designed to be crunched. Sometimes however, they can be a little harder than expected....
8) Toffees: Not surprising this made the list. Your dentist will probably tell you how terrible toffees are for your teeth. If they're not being slowly sucked and coating your teeth for hours on end with a sugary layer of destructiveness, the impatient ones might have a go at chewing them. Not always a great idea....
7) Cherry seeds: Hard as nails and not meant to be chewed at all, the saving grace with cherries is that they are seasonal, so we don't see more of them!
6) Almonds and other nuts: In all fairness nuts are meant to be chewed and can be part of a balanced diet. However teeth that are already weakened with large fillings or decay are at particular risk of breakage, so nuts can just tip things over the edge!
5) Pork Crackling: People find it so delicious, that even when rock hard they still can't help themselves. Off they go, trying every tooth, one at time, seeing which biting combination will crack apart the fatty goodness. Sometimes it's the tooth that gives way first...
4) Multi-grain bread: This one might surprise you, but like many things, accidents happen when least expected. Every now and then a grain gets caught in the grooves and we bite down with a full, un-checked force into what we think is generally soft bread. It's more common than you think and that's why it's number 4 on our list!
3) Ice (the frozen kind): For whatever reason some people love to chew Ice! They find it cooling, hydrating and perhaps it's like a fidget-spinner for their mouths - something to do. Teeth, however, can only withstand so much.
2) "Pitted" olives: Another offender that happens when you least expect it. The first 9 olives may have been pitted. But number 10 olive has a pit in it. You get complacent. You bite down with relish. You pick up the phone and call Northbridge Dentists! Yep, this happens.
Drumroll please........
1) Popcorn: Yes, introducing our number one offender, popcorn colonels. I think everyone has accidentally had a run-in with a popcorn colonel. Fortunately most of us have lived to tell the tale without much further thought. A favourite snack and movie food, when you're rummaging around in the darkened cinema and you chomp down while concentrating on the movie, it can happen all too quickly. Before you know it you're hobbling out of the movies with a palm holding the side of your face.
Fortunately Northbridge Dentists are here to help-out with all these little mishaps. No story too silly! www.northbridgedentists.com
An honourable mention must go to Forks. Although not a food, people commonly bite down on the fork before they have taken it out of their mouths. Fork vs tooth - fork wins >_<