Be Aware of What You Eat and Drink
It is important to keep you mouth and teeth as healthy as possible. There are some things that you can do in order to keep your teeth in the best condition possible. This will include brushing at least twice a day, flossing everyday, and using mouthwash. It also includes visiting us regularly for a dental cleaning and examination. We can recommend proper techniques to keep your teeth, gums, tongue, and mouth as healthy as possible. To prevent cavities and maintain good oral health, your diet of what you eat and how often you eat are important factors. Changes in your mouth start the minute you eat certain foods. Bacteria in the mouth convert sugars and carbohydrates from the foods you eat to acids, and it is the acids that begin to attack the enamel, starting the decay process.
Foods or Drinks that are Good for your Teeth
The best food choices for the health of your mouth include cheese, chicken or other meats, nuts, and milk. These foods are thought to protect tooth enamel by providing the calcium and phosphorus needed to re-mineralize teeth, which is a natural process by which minerals are re-deposited in tooth enamel after being removed by acids. Other food choices include firm or crunchy fruits like apples or pears, and vegetables. These foods have a high water content, which dilutes the effects of the sugars they contain, and stimulate the flow of saliva. This is beneficial because it helps protect against decay by washing away food particles and buffering acid. Some acidic foods, such as citrus fruits, tomatoes, and lemons, should be eaten as part of a larger meal to minimize the acid from them. Poor food choices include candy, such as lollipops, hard candies, mints, cookies, and cakes. These foods contain large amounts of sugar and can stick to teeth, providing a fuel source for bacteria. The best beverage choices include water, milk, and unsweetened tea. Limit your consumption of sugar-containing drinks, including soft drinks, lemonade, and coffee or tea with added sugar. Also, avoid day-long sipping of sugar-containing drinks. This exposes your teeth to constant sugar and constant decay-causing acids.
Know about Sugar-Free Food
Sugarless or sugar-free food sometimes simply means that no sugar was added to the foods during processing. However, this does not mean that the foods do not contain other natural sweeteners, such as honey, molasses, evaporated cane sugar, fructose, or rice syrup. These natural sweeteners contain the same number of calories as sugar and can be just as harmful to teeth. To determine if the sugarless or sugar-free foods you buy contain natural sweeteners, examine the ingredients label. Words that end in “ose”, like sucrose and fructose, usually indicate the presence of a natural sweetener.
Chewing Gum
Chewing sugarless gum is actually beneficial to your teeth as chewing helps dislodge food that becomes stuck to your teeth and also increases saliva flow to buffer to neutralize mouth acids. Some gums contain ingredients that can reduce cavities as well as heal areas on the teeth where cavities are beginning. Chewing gum can be a problem if you have jaw pain or other issues with your jaw.