How Your Food Choices Impact Your Oral Health

How Your Food Choices Impact Your Oral Health

Aug 01, 2020

As a kid, you must have been discouraged from eating certain foods in order to keep your teeth healthy and strong. This may have seemed like a ploy to deny you your favorite treats, but the truth is that it was a way of protecting your dental health. Our nutrition and feeding habits directly impact our oral health. For this reason, we need to be conscious about what we eat if we care about promoting healthy teeth and gums.

Besides practicing good oral hygiene, a healthy diet is also an essential part in oral and teeth care. Everything you eat is bound to get into contact with your teeth and this means that if you make unhealthy choices you could be posing risk to the integrity of your tooth enamel. There is also what is absorbed into your body system after you eat that shapes the state of your oral health. To keep your smile looking healthier and brighter for long, here are some thing you need to know about how food choices affect the health of your mouth:

Food Habits that Threaten your Dental Health

It is known that certain foods like sweets and sodas are not good for your teeth. however, indulging in these foods once in a while followed by proper brushing and flossing is okay. It only becomes a problem when we over-indulge and fail to clean our teeth afterwards. So, while some foods inherently do not promote healthy teeth, it is the habits and behaviors that we form with these foods that actually make them a problem. At Encanto Family Dental Care, patients are educated on foods habits and how they can impact their oral health. Here are some habits to avoid if you wish for a healthy smile:

  • Sugar Loading

Sugary foods have long been linked to tooth decay and cavities. The American Dental Association even recommends that we considerably reduce the intake of sugary foods and drinks like candy, cakes and other processed sugars. So, if you have a ‘sweet tooth’, you need to reconsider your choices and opt for more healthier alternatives in order to protect the health of your teeth. Make effort to diversify your diet so that you not only consuming foods that are high in sugar. You also need to understand that starchy foods like spaghetti, cereal and even juices have sugar content too.

  • Snacking

Frequent snacking can be a threat to your oral wellness, especially if you are not keen on what you snack on. There is also the likelihood of failing to brush teeth after a snack that adds to the risk of potential problems. Most snacks off-the-shelf snacks are usually sugary, chewy or sticky. These characteristics are catalysts to dental decay. So, when choosing your snacks, opt for healthier alternatives that are rich in calcium, phosphorous, and vitamins and minerals. Yoghurt, wholegrains, fruits and sugar-less gums are great choices.

  • Too Much Acidic Foods

Acidic foods and drinks wear out the tooth’s enamel over time. For fresh produce like organs and tomatoes, have them in moderation or eat them in a meal as opposed to on their own. Beverages like soda and energy drinks are also acidic and should be avoided. If you must take them, try using a straw to minimize contact with the teeth.

Food That Promote a Strong and Healthy Smile

If you are wondering what types of food you can eat to keep a healthy smile and avoid unnecessary visits to the dental clinic, here is a list:

  • Dairy

These foods are rich in calcium which is essential for healthy bone development and growth, hence string and healthy teeth. Besides dairy products, calcium can also be obtained from beans, almonds and leafy greens.

  • Protein

Foods high in protein have the needed nutrients for healthy teeth such as phosphorous. Phosphorous plays a significant role in rebuilding and protecting the tooth’s enamel. Foods to help with this include chicken, eggs, beef, fish and soybeans.

  • Fruits and Vegetables

There are tons of health benefits that come from eating fruits and vegetables. They are high in fibre and water content and also stimulate saliva production which helps in balancing the PH in the mouth. these foods also are high in vitamin C which that keeps gums healthy and vitamin A that helps rebuild the enamel.

  • Water

Besides keeping you energized and hydrated, taking lots of water will wash down any food particle in the mouth, and prevent residue buildup that eventually breakdowns to release an acid that destroys the enamel.

if you want a healthy smile and to prevent frequents visits to the emergency dentist, make good food choices today!

Click to listen highlighted text!