Corn on the Cob and Your Teeth: WATCH OUT FOR THE PRONGS!
Sweet corn will be in season in Arizona this June, which means we will be seeing more corn on the cob in stores. While corn on the cob is a delicious addition to any meal, it can be harmful to your teeth. Today I want to talk about how eating corn on the cob can harm your teeth specifically when using corn holders/prongs.
Imagine a person taking their corn and quickly inserting two corn holders on either end of the corn. They are impatient to eat, so they do not realize they did not insert one of the corn holders in their corn correctly.
This person starts eating away at their corn without a second thought. Suddenly, they bite down on something hard and hear a little click. Their tongue automatically goes to rub across the teeth that bit down on the metal prong, discovering that their tooth is not smooth anymore. They go to a mirror and find out a piece of their tooth is missing. Biting down on the corn holder caused a piece of their tooth to break off!
People often use corn holders like the ones in the image below whenever they eat corn on the cob.
While these corn holders are useful, they can hurt a person’s teeth if they are not used correctly. The corn holders must be placed straight in the inedible center of the corncob as seen in the image below.
Unfortunately, the ends of the corn are often not flat on both sides. They typically have one side tapering off into a rounded point. Most tooth issues occur because of the tapered tip of the corn. This is because if a person is not careful, the metal prongs in the corn holders will be in the edible kernels instead of the inedible center of the cob.
What can I do to prevent chipping my teeth?
There are precautions you can use to ensure the previously described hypothetical situation does not happen to you. Two simple precautions are:
- Be careful when inserting the corn holders. Make sure the metal prongs of the holders are not poking out and into the kernels you are going to eat.
- Cut off the tips of the corn. You can ensure the metal prongs of the holders go into the inedible portion of the corncob by cutting off only the tapered tips.
Eat a lot of corn and please eat it safely.
What can I do if this happens to me?
If you have chipped your tooth and cannot visit a dentist that day, check out our home remedy for chipped teeth for a short-term emergency fix and give our Glendale, AZ office a call at 602-942-4260 or REQUEST AN APPOINTMENT.
