Your mouth is full of germs. Don’t worry! They’re safe, and an important part of your health and immunity. However, some of them do cause tooth decay.
Every time you eat something, you’re introducing chemicals, minerals, and bacteria into your mouth’s biome. This affects the health of your teeth and gums directly.
Tooth decay occurs when sugars and carbohydrates in your mouth are digested by different bacteria. Acid is usually created as a byproduct, and this acid can eat away at the enamel on your teeth. This leads to decay and in some cases cavities or infections in the gums. The more frequently you eat, the more active the bacteria in your mouth can become.
However, adding certain vitamins and minerals to your diet can assist with remineralizing your mouth. Remineralization is adding calcium and other minerals back to your teeth, to help restore their defenses against potential wear. It’s an important part of oral health, and can be influenced by foods that work for your teeth.
The best diet for remineralizing your teeth has high calcium and phosphorous contents. Because saliva has neutralizing properties, increased chewing can also help put a stop to enamel erosion. Focusing on eating foods that help with the basic protection of your teeth is beneficial to your orthodontic care, dental care, and mouth tissue health.
Some Snack Suggestions For Dental Health
When you hear the word health food, it may bring to mind different ancient grains, lean shakes, or protein-heavy foods. Dental health foods, however, focus on specific vitamins, minerals, water content, and fiber content.
In evaluating how healthy a food will be for your teeth, look for foods that:
Have a high calcium content,
Contain water,
Are fibrous,
Do not contain a lot of natural or processed sugar, or
Are high in phosphorous.
Different combinations of these properties keep your mouth clean, rinse your gums and teeth, and add minerals to your enamel.
Cheese, Yogurt, and Dairy Products
Dairy products such as cheese and creams contain lots of calcium and proteins, which strengthen your tooth enamel. A study published in the American Academy of General Dentistry in 2013 suggests that eating cheese strengthens your enamel directly, leading to less tooth decay over time.
Yogurt has calcium and protein as well, carrying some of the same benefits as cheese. The probiotics in yogurt also assist your gums because good bacteria populate areas, crowding out bad bacteria. Choosing sugar-free yogurt is a better means of helping your teeth.
Leafy Greens
Leafy greens such as kale and spinach promote oral health due to the large amount of calcium they contain. While leafy greens are almost a cliché in the health world, they carry beneficial vitamins and minerals that will affect your entire body, starting in your mouth.
Apples, Carrots, and Celery
These three foods are fibrous and contain lots of water. They also require more chewing which increases the amount of saliva produced in the mouth.
An added benefit, aside from the vitamins and minerals contained in these vegetables, is that their structure makes them really useful for stimulating your gums and scrubbing at your teeth without scratching the enamel.
Celery takes oral health to another level by adding vitamins A and C, which are antioxidants that further benefit your mouth biome, teeth, and gums.
There is a caveat to this, however. In order to really further your orthodontic care, if you have braces and your orthodontist recommends for you not to eat denser, crunchier foods, always listen to your healthcare provider.
Nuts
Nuts such as almonds are a great source of calcium and protein, and also require more chewing. They’re also a handy snack that can be carried along easily.
If you would like to know more about my practice, what I do and how I can help you regain your smile contact me:
Cel: +52 811 741 0157
Email: cadenaortho@gmail.com
Comentarios