GENERAL DENTIST WHO LOVES BOBA, BUT HATES CAVITIES

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I LOVE boba. We're so lucky to be in Sunnyvale - we're surrounded by delicious boba stores! I’m also a dentist. And as a general dentist, I get a lot of funny looks when people realize I love boba...and these funny looks are quickly followed with “but how do you not have any cavities if you love boba so much?” I’m proactive about my oral health, and I practice 5 easy tips to keep my teeth healthy.

Here are the tips I share with patients:
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1. Brush your teeth and floss them, too. Twice a day. Every day. No compromises. If you know you’re consuming extraordinary amounts of sugar (and exposing your teeth to a higher risk of cavities), your oral hygiene must be as ideal as possible. 
2. Include fluoride in your routine! This can be an over-the-counter fluoride mouthrinse (like ACT) or a prescription-strength toothpaste (like Prevident). I love Prevident - I use it every night before I sleep and have gotten many friends/family members to use it, as well.
3. Be smart about your boba. I skip the actual boba in my drinks - the sticky, chewy texture of the tapioca pearls aggravates my jaws and is a fast way to get cavities. I go topping-free and also try to get my drinks with 50% sugar.
4. Rinse with water! After I sip boba, I drink water to try and rinse my mouth out.
5. Decrease your sugar intake elsewhere. I don’t usually eat candy and will even skip dessert because I prefer to get my sugar cravings fixed with a boba drink. It’s also a smart idea to finish boba drinks in one sitting rather than throughout the day. 

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Try these five small changes so that you can have your boba and healthy teeth, too. After I have this conversation with patients, they ask the same question you’re probably wondering as you read this: “How do you even get cavities?” Stay tuned; that's coming soon!

As your local general dentist, my goal is to get your smile to its best, healthiest state - and then help you maintain it. Email us and let me know how I can help you, whether that's answering your burning dental-related questions on this blog or helping you get to the best boba in Sunnyvale!