How trendy juice diets are ruining our TEETH

They have become the latest craze in healthy living.

Celebrities including celebrities from Carol Vorderman, Katie Price and Ed Sheeran have all embarked on juice diets, drinking nothing but nature's nectar for up to two weeks at a time.

Meanwhile, the market for juicers and smoothie-making machines has exploded, with hoardes of people proudly installing a NutriBullet or a Vitamix in their kitchen.

But while gulping down green gunge every day may lead to weight loss, dentist Dr Uchenna Okoye, of the London Smiling dental group, warns soaring numbers of people are suffering dental problems due to juice diets.

Advocates claim juicing not only helps a person slim down, but can detox the body of toxins and even help cure skin problems like eczema.

It is also a good way of eating more fruit and vegetables, reducing vitamin deficiencies and increasing a person's intake of fibre, which helps with digestion and bowel conditions, advocates claim.

However, Dr Okoye warns juice diets erode away the tooth’s enamel, leading to chipped and shorter teeth which cause a person to look older than their years.

Dr Okoye, who is also a smile director for Oral B, told MailOnline: ‘With the recession, people are more appearance, youth and beauty driven.

‘Before it was sports drinks and fizzy drinks. Now, with people who are 40-odd, juice diets are becoming popular as they want to look younger.’

Many do not realise by drinking fruit juice they are essentially rubbing sugar over the inside of their mouths, Dr Okoye told MailOnline.

‘It dissolves their teeth away,’ she said. ‘What will happen is the fruit juices erodes the enamel.

‘Vegetables are not so bad but fruit juices are sugary and acidic. You see the enamel softens and wears away on the inside, becoming thinner and the teeth are chipping.’

The action of the sugar is combined with the stress of being on a diet, which can make people irritable and more likely to grind their teeth, she said.

She told MailOnline: ‘They’re stressed, so they’re grinding and gnash their teeth, further wearing down their teeth and getting them shorter.

‘People get sensitivity with air and cold, and sweet foods, then they get chips and breaks. By the time the teeth are short, the enamel is gone.’

Ironically, those who embark on a juice diet seek a younger physique, but end up with the teeth of an elderly person, she added.

She said: ‘If you don’t see someone’s teeth when they talk its very ageing. They’ve done this juice diet to look young and the result – short teeth is the opposite of young.’

The full effects of the damage acid can do to the teeth is visible in those who have eating disorders.

Dr Okoye said: ‘I have some patients who are juicing and who are bulimic, and the combination means they have no teeth left. You have to rebuild anything.’

But for those planning a juice diet, she recommends using vegetables rather than fruit.

She said: ‘Acid and sugar in fruit is more of a worry. If I was going on a juicing diet, I would juice green vegetables- which are alkaline and so are great for teeth as they’re not acidic.

‘Use a wide straw, then you’re drinking it and its not sloshing around the mouth.’

Avoiding ‘rinsing’ the mouth with the juice – by sloshing and swilling it around, can limit the damage, she said.

She told MailOnline: ‘It takes 45 mins for something sweet or acidic to disappear. Drink it all in one go rather than sipping on it for 3 hours.

‘Like everything, educate yourself so you can protect yourself against the risks to your teeth.’ 

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