Teens
Teens
Keeping your gums clean is essential.
Keeping your gums clean protects you from losing teeth to gum disease as well as decay. The teenage years bring their own risks — fizzy drinks, braces and sport — and a few simple habits handle all of them.
This is the first molar of a 15-year-old — it should last another 70 years, but is unlikely to survive past 20.
It came through at age 6, and years of carbonated drinks have dissolved away the biting-surface enamel, exposing the soft yellow dentine underneath. All carbonated drinks dissolve teeth, especially before the enamel has fully matured.
Fizzy and sports drinks
If you drink fizzy drinks, less damage happens if they’re cold with ice, through a straw, and only at mealtimes. No “sports” drink makes you perform better — they just dissolve your teeth. Chewing sugar-free gum after eating helps. (See the drinks guide and the cost of implants in the adult section.)
Braces
You might want braces for a straight smile — but the reason they’re provided on the NHS is that straight teeth are easier to clean and far less likely to decay. Keep them spotless with the right interdental brushes; the last thing you want is brown staining or decay around the brackets.
Mouthguards for sport
The most common cause of front-tooth loss in teenagers is trauma — rugby, hockey, judo and the like. Once your adult teeth are all through, get a custom gum shield from your dentist, in the thickness your sport needs (and your team colours, with your name, if you like).
Watch
See what fizzy drinks really do
A short film — sometimes called a video nasty — showing what happens to a tooth left in cola for a week.
Protect your teeth now
The habits you build now decide whether you keep your teeth for life.