Dental health tips
- In order to maintain good dental health, you should visit your
dentist regularly every 6 months, but it is also important to maintain a
healthy diet and good nutrition. It is important to eat from all of the
food groups, including grains, vegetables, fruits, milk, meats/beans
and eat some extras sparingly, like oils and fats. A balanced diet is
very important in helping to prevent cavities and have whiter teeth.
Cavities are a result of what we eat and how often those foods are
eaten.
Eating apples, celery and carrots can help remove plaque. If you do eat
sweets with sugar in it immediately brush after eating the sweets and
this will help prevent cavities. Also, another interesting fact is that
sweets are less harmful to teeth if eaten with a main meal, rather than
between meals. Table sugar is more harmful to teeth than sugars that
occur naturally in fruits and milk.
Food choices that are more nutritious for teeth include the following,
fruits, vegetables, berries, carrots, nuts, tomatoes, yogurt, chicken,
eggs, melons, turkey, salad, pineapple, pumpkin seeds, pears, cereal
(that is not high in sugar), sunflower seeds, popcorn, oranges, pizza,
tacos, cheese, celery and sugar free gum/soda.
Food choices that cause tooth decay include the following: candy, mints,
sticky foods like jelly beans or caramels, fruit juice, sugary drinks
(like soda, sweet tea and sweetened juice), cake, cookies, cough drops,
doughnuts, gum, honey, jams, jellies, molasses, pies, popsicles, syrup
and table sugar. Also you should consider that many foods can become
stuck in our teeth when we eat and that can help cause tooth decay too.
Foods, such as bread, cereals, pasta, crackers, and potato chips, if
left in the mouth for long periods of time can cause tooth decay. If you
do not brush your teeth after eating these types of things, the
bacteria that live in your mouth breaks the food down into sugars and
then the sugars create cavities and tooth decay. This is why it is so
important to eat a well balanced diet, eat sugary substances only on
occasion and with a meal, rather than as a snack and immediately brush
teeth after eating sugary substances to cut down the risk of developing a
cavity.
According to the American Dental Association, the following are
recommended for good dental health: breads, cereals and other grain
products that provide vitamins for healthy growth of teeth, dairy
products which provide calcium and Vitamin D for strengthening teeth,
fruits and vegetables which provide Vitamin C for healthy gums and lean
meats, fish, poultry and beans, which provide iron and protein for
overall good health and magnesium for healthy teeth.
Dental health tips
