The Healthy Teeth Diet

Proper nutrition and your diet play an essential role in providing health to the teeth and gums. Sugar, natural or processed, is enemy number 1 and the leading cause of tooth decay production. A good healthy teeth diet will help you keep your teeth healthy.

Sticky foods (caramels, candy) cannot be quickly dissolved by saliva and their prolonged presence on the tooth surface creates a perfect environment for the formation of cavities. Foods that appear to be harmless: chips, pancakes, cake, etc are also retained on the tooth surface for a long period of time and, finally transformed into carbohydrates and sugars that cause tooth decay.

Rinsing (if brushing is not possible) immediately after consuming these foods is required to prevent caries. Sugar-free gum can be used to clean the tooth surface because it stimulates the secretion of saliva and regulates the pH of the mouth. The major disadvantage of chewing gum is the presence in its composition of food additives particularly harmful to health.

Generally, the greatest devourers of sweets are children, that is why, during the development of their teeth, they should mainly eat complex and natural carbohydrates, such as fresh fruit. Fruits stimulate the facial muscles and help out with the cleansing of the mouth.

Recent clinical studies reveal that very drastic diets may affect the health of your teeth. This category includes “the Monday morning diet” or diets that encourages the consumption of one type of food per day. People who keep fad diets tend to severely limit the intake of proteins, vitamins and minerals, especially calcium, vitamin D and vitamin B12 which are important substances for the dental system. Also, people taking weight loss pills secrete small quantities of saliva and thus create a strong acid environment that favors the formation of cavities.

Vitamins from food or from supplements, along with a rigorous oral hygiene, can help lower the incidence of dental cavities, the unpleasant smelling breath and gum diseases. Vitamins such as vitamin C and coenzyme Q10 have an antioxidant activity and protect the gums especially against cellular degeneration; they stimulate the formation of collagen (fibrous protein of living tissue) and favor regeneration.

Cleaning the tongue is also very important to help remove the smell of the breath; the main cause of this unpleasant odor is present in deposits of bacteria on the tongue surface. Most dental problems occur due to the lack of a proper oral hygiene, smoking, and from the consumption of sweets and colored carbonated beverages. Various dental diseases that are not treated properly may lead to oral cancer.

So, with a little awareness and a little knowledge of the importance of dental hygiene and nutrition you can prevent pain and dental disease and, especially, you can maintain a bright smile without much effort.