Dental Health And Your Diet

How is your diet? Do you eat a balanced diet? Are you getting the right amount of the four food groups to keep your body healthy? Do you drink lots of water? A balanced, nutritious diet is good for your general health as well as your dental health. Without the right nutrients,you will not have a strong immune system and your teeth and gums can become more susceptible to decay and gum disease. It is even possible that eventually you’ll loose bone that holds your teeth in place and the tooth will need to be removed.

Sugar is just one of the main causes of dental problems. The average person eats the equivalent of 88 pounds of sugar each year. In determining how harmful sugar is to the body and teeth, we have to evaluate how much was eaten, how often it was eaten and in what form. Here are a few ways to reduce your sugar intake and help your teeth at the same time.

• Choose sugar-free snacks such as milk, fruit, vegetables, nuts, plain yogurt, sunflower or pumpkin seeds, cheese, melba toast, juice and salads. Add less sugar to your coffee or tea or try sugar substitutes. Try to avoid sugar-sweetened soft drinks and look for fruit juices and drinks with no added sugar. Carbonated drinks will do more damage to teeth than the presents of sugar due to the phosphoric acid that is present.
• Pay attention to the list of ingredients on the products you buy at the grocery store. Honey, molasses, glucose, maltodextrin and high fructose corn syrup are all types of sugar: many hiding under different names.
• When you do eat sweets, there are things you can do to avoid harming your teeth: avoid sticky sweets that cling to your teeth and are hard to brush away; eat sweets with a meal and not on their own. This will improve the flow of saliva which helps wash away and dilute sugar from the sweets.
• If you can’t brush, at least rinse your mouth out with water or eat a fibrous fruit such as an apple or raw vegetables.
• Try to avoid white flour or refined flour products as the gluten makes the food stick to the teeth were it breaks down into sugar than acid before it gets washed away. The longer it is on or around the teeth, the more chance of damage to the teeth.