Juice cleanses have had their moment in the health and wellness space throughout the 2010s and some have survived into the 2020s. Today, however, even some of the most adamant pro-juicing health influencers and dietary experts are reevaluating juice-heavy diet and detox programs. There are several reasons for this, ranging from inefficacy to blood sugar issues.

Interestingly enough, criticism has come from an unexpected segment of the health and wellness industry—not dietitians or nutritionists, but dentists. As it turns out, juice cleansing regimens can be disastrous for your dental health.

What’s the News on Juice Cleanses?

Hold-out juice cleanse supporters and old high school friends trying to sell you medicinal juice via a pyramid scheme will tell you that a juice cleanse has benefits in every imaginable area. Health claims exist from the obvious, like gut health and bowel regularity, to the more unexpected, like benefits for skin, mental health, joint pain, energy levels, behavioral issues, and more. Depending on the juice and its ingredients, as well as the individual user’s health status, some percentage of these claims may be true.

Overall, though, the value of juice cleansing is not well supported by the available science. In fact, retail juice cleansing programs have been called an outright scam by some nutritionists and former sellers. The juice cleanse trend has been linked to eating disorders, and certain popular “cleansing” juices like grapefruit can even have dangerous side effects.

Add all that to the fact that juice cleanses can lead to weight gain and sluggishness rather than weight loss and energy, and you already have many compelling reasons to avoid miracle diets and cures based on fruit juice consumption. Still, it’s important not to forget those dentists we mentioned earlier. With so much to be wary of, you might even say that fruit juice’s terrible effects on your teeth are merely the final nail in the juice cleansing coffin.

Why Are Juice Cleanses Bad for Your Teeth?

Even 100% natural fruit juices and high-quality products marketed as healthy and organic, drinking fruit juice can do more harm than good due to high levels of sugars and acids. Most of the energy-boosting and weight-loss triggering effects of juice cleanses are anecdotal, and many of the rest are myths entirely. A liquid diet designed to leave you feeling refreshed and detoxified can instead leave you feeling bloated, unwell, and with a grimy, unhealthy mouthfeel.

Sugars

Fruits are naturally high in sugar—that’s why we like them. In fact, we all need some sugar to power our bodies and stabilize our systems, and the natural sugar in fruits is a terrific way to get it. When we consume too much sugar from any source, however, it promotes tooth decay. In addition to myriad sugar-related dental health issues, sugar-rich juice cleanses can also cause weight gain and dangerous fluctuations in blood sugar levels.

You might even consider yourself lucky if a sugar crash is the only negative effect of a juice cleanse. Messing around with your body’s sugar levels is serious business and can lead to low blood pressure and disorientation in extreme cases.

Avoid Damage to Your Mouth

Despite all the dental downsides of a juice cleanse, we know that quality fruit juices can be full of antioxidants and vitamins, not to mention great flavors and refreshment. Fruit can be great for you in a lot of ways, and even juice is not unhealthy when consumed responsibly.

There are a few things to keep in mind if you’re trying to harness the health benefits of your favorite fruits without doing serious damage to your oral health and hygiene.

Consume Whole Fruits When Possible

Whole fruits have better fiber content and may have additional nutrients in the skin and pulpy material that gets filtered out of juices. Juice cleanses give the illusion of powerfully cleaning and detoxifying your system because juices are digested more quickly than whole foods. In fact, the entire “cleanse” will travel from your glass to your bathroom quite rapidly if you’re drinking excessive amounts of fruit juices. In reality, juices have no special benefits that their whole fruit counterparts do not.

Legit Juice “Cleanses” and Treatments

While the juice cleanse is unfortunately a diet fad, multi-level marketing platform, and dental liability more so than a science-backed nutritional tool, some specific fruit juices can indeed provide real therapeutic effects.

These include the following:

Of course, not everything you consume in your life must be evaluated through the lens of health supplementation. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with drinking juice simply because it tastes good to you. Just do so in moderation and try to find an opportunity to rinse your teeth afterwards.

An Antioxidant and Vitamin Rich Nutrition Plan Beyond Fruit Juice

Ongoing acidity and damage to enamel can cause tooth sensitivity. Luckily, topical dental gel and solutions help alleviate discomfort.

However, if you are thinking of juicing for health reasons, remember that loading up on sugary juices is not worth the risk—especially when the only “cleanse” taking place is a harsher than necessary power-washing of your digestive tract. Drinking massive amounts of sugar and acid simply does not have the ability to magically “detoxify” your systems. Only time and healthy food choices can do that.