If there's one thing you'll always find me doing, it's snacking. Whether it's the occasional random slice of cheese in the fridge, a handful of tortilla chips, or that random Trader Joe's find that caught my eye in the checkout line, there's usually a fun treat in my hand. So you can imagine my horror when I came across a now-viral video from Siena Filippi about the several cavities she obtained from "snacking.
" In her video, with over two million views, Siena says her dentist broke the news that she apparently had "a starting cavity on almost every tooth" and cited snacking as a major cause. "He literally said one of the two major causes of cavities is girls who be snackin' a lot," she says. Now, as a "girl who be snackin' a lot" (and one who probably doesn't go to the dentist as often as she should), I was appalled at this new information.
So, I reached out to Dr. Zainab Mackie , DDS, a Michigan-based dentist, to find out how enjoying our favorite snacks can cause cavities and how we can hopefully prevent them. "Every time we eat, the bacteria in our mouth consume the sugars in our diet and then release acids as part of their fermentation process.
The released acid can cause breakdown or demineralization of the enamel of our teeth," Dr. Mackie told BuzzFeed. "So at this acidic level, we are more prone to getting cavities.
Luckily, our saliva works to buffer the acids and get it back to normal each time we eat. However, if you are constantly snacking, especially on carbohydr.