The food you eat helps build a strong, healthy body — that includes your teeth! Adding a few simple things to your diet can help your choppers stay strong and healthy.
- Watch when you eat your carbs. Carbohydrates break down into sugars, which can be converted to plaque in the mouth. Plaque is the primary cause of gum disease and cavities! If you snack on carbs like chips, cookies, and crackers, foods can get caught between teeth and under the gum line, making it easy for bacteria to get to work. If you eat your carbs at mealtimes, you’ll be producing more saliva and washing food particles away.
- Behold! The power of cheese. Enzymes in cheese can help neutralizing acids and sugars that come from sodas and other sugary snacks. Follow your sugary drinks and snacks with a piece of cheese to help reduce your risk of cavities.
- Make sure you get your vitamin C. Folks who don’t get enough vitamin C in their diet are 25% more likely to end up with gum disease than people who ate enough — according to a study from the State University of New York at Buffalo. Be sure you get plenty of vitamin C: 180mg daily or more.
- Make sure you get your calcium. Folks who eat at least 800mg of calcium daily are less likely to develop severe gum disease. The majority of the calcium in your body is in your bones and in your teeth. Calcium in your diet helps strengthen the bone in your jaw, which helps hold your teeth in place. Women under 50 should get 1000mg per day and women over 50 should get 1200mg per day.
- Use a straw when you drink sugary sodas, sports drinks, and juices. Many drinks contain citric acid and phosphoric acid, which can wear away enamel on your teeth. Sip through a straw and keep the drinks away from your teeth.
- Drink black and green tea. The antioxidants in tea can help prevent plaque from sticking to your teeth — reducing your chances of gum disease and cavities. Tea can also inhibit the growth of bacteria that cause bad breath! Some teas even contain fluoride (both from the leaves themselves and from the water the tea is stepped in) which helps protect tooth enamel.
- Snack on crunchy veggies like carrots and celery. The crunching can help scrape food particles, plaque, and bacteria off your teeth.