St. Patrick’s Day Blog

St. Patrick’s Day Delicacy Dangers

Artificially Green Foods Can Stain Your Teeth

Hi everyone! Next week is St. Patrick’s Day and many people have already brought out their green food coloring, with everyone ready to dye foods, cookies, and beverages green in the spirit of St. Patrick’s Day. What was once a religious observance is now a simple excuse for consuming foods and beverages shaded shamrock green. Be careful though, because consuming artificially green goods to excess can result in the staining of your teeth to an unpleasant shade of spring green.

St. Patrick’s Day Traditions and Updates

Now on the 17th of March, all around the United States, people will be celebrating the life and death of Ireland’s most famous saint, St. Patrick. Famous for using the shamrock clover to bring pagan people to Christianity, St. Patrick was a man of peace and should be remembered as such.
Today, many aspects of this holiday have been commercialized, with the most common form being the usage of the color green. Traditionally, by wearing the color green on St. Patrick’s Day, you would let the public know that you were of a Protestant Christian faith. In today’s culture, green is used in abundance and holds little to no religious significance. Many foods and beverages are actually dyed green with the use of food coloring to bring about an even greener feel to St. Patrick’s Day.

Watch Out For Food Coloring!

As there are a limited number of foods actually colored green, many businesses taken it upon themselves to create green-colored foods by adding green food coloring to cuisines that would not normally be colored as such. While this does create a festive and fun environment, this can also be harmful to your teeth.
With repeated consumption of artificially colored foods, there have been instances where plaque and tartar deposits have been stained the color the foods and beverages consumed. Imagine the embarrassment one feels when there is a single leaf of spinach stuck in their teeth for more than an hour. Then multiply this by 100 because this is a blemish that does not come out so easily.

Preventing This Dental Demise

There is hope though! If you remember to brush your teeth after eating a large amount of foods with green food coloring, this should be enough to counteract the staining agents in the food coloring. Beyond brushing, there is also the simple solution of limiting your intake of foods that have this unnatural green tint. Sometimes it is the more simple solutions that work the best. But, if you want to fully celebrate by indulging this St. Patrick’s Day, be sure and remember to brush afterwards so you don’t look like an April fool come early.