Perhaps the easiest way to keep your teeth and gums healthy is brushing and flossing regularly. However, there is more one can do to not only maintain a bright, beautiful smile but improve your oral health. One way is paying attention to what you eat. There are foods for healthy teeth you should try to make part of your diet. Also, there are foods you need to avoid. Fortunately, Zeal Dentistry can walk you through the process.
Foods For Healthy Teeth
Finding the right foods to keep your teeth healthy isn’t very difficult. What can be a challenge is making them a regular part of your diet. However, if you can and continue to maintain regular dental appointments, you’ll find yourself pleased with the results. For instance, some foods for healthy teeth include:
- Calcium-rich foods: Milk, yogurt, cheese, fortified soy drinks and tofu, canned salmon, almonds, and dark green leafy vegetables all strengthen teeth naturally. The calcium and phosphates in these foods help put back minerals your teeth might have lost. As they do so, they rebuild tooth enamel.
- Fiber-rich fruits and vegetables: Fiber keeps your teeth and gums clean while getting saliva flowing. Next to good home dental care and regular teeth cleaning, this is your best natural defense against cavities and gum disease.
- Green and black teas: Both of these kinds of teas contain polyphenols, which either kill or hold back bacteria. This prevents bacteria from growing or making acid that attacks teeth.
Some other foods to look to include or increase in your diet include eggs, fish, lean meat, nuts, and beans. Also, Vitamin C promotes gum health. It can be found in less acidic forms in foods like tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, potatoes, and spinach.
Foods To Avoid
Sometimes keeping a healthy mouth is more about the foods you don’t eat rather than foods for healthy teeth. Avoiding sugary, syrupy, and acidic foods and drink goes a long way towards preventing cavities, gum disease, and discoloration. For example, there are some foods to avoid such as:
- Candy and sweets: Lollipops, caramels, and even cough drops have refined sugar, which eats away at your tooth’s enamel and increases the growth of plaque. Chocolate doesn’t prevent cavities, and even though the industry would want you to believe otherwise, neither does chewing gum. Both are loaded with sugar. No one is saying not to eat candy or sweets, but you have to do so in moderation and make sure to clean your teeth immediately after eating.
- Starchy foods: Bread, crackers, and snacks like potato chips get trapped between your teeth. This is why you’re encouraged to floss regularly. When these foods remain between your teeth, they feed plaque and bacteria, which destroys your tooth enamel, creating cavities.
- Carbonated drinks: Sodas and energy drinks are loaded with sugar. But what’s worse is the carbonation makes them acidic. Regularly drinking these beverages weakens teeth.
Also, alcohol and medicine may dry out your mouth or stain your teeth. Thus, it makes sense to ask your dentist about possible fluoride treatments.
Zeal Dentistry
Often, your smile is the thing others remember about you. So it makes sense to keep your teeth as healthy as possible. Doing so begins with knowing what foods for healthy teeth you should be looking to add to your diet. The next step is getting regular check-ups at Zeal Dentistry. Combining healthy foods for teeth, brushing, and flossing three times a day, and teeth cleaning is a great way to make your smile last a lifetime. We also offer teeth whitening and a variety of other cosmetic services. So give us a call today at 415.792.4771 to schedule an appointment or consultation.
