Your teeth are very hard but very lively. They need to be well nourished just like other parts of your body, like your skin and muscles. Choosing good, nutritious foods is also important, as is staying away from foods that can cause cavities.
Although there is no substitute for regular brushing and flossing, choosing the right foods that provide plenty of calcium, vitamins A, C and D will help keep your teeth strong.
Researchers in Japan analyzed the diets of 57 seventy-four-year-olds and counted their teeth. The scientists found that people who ate fewer vegetables, fish, and shellfish also had fewer teeth.
While eating nutritious foods, you should stay away from sugary and sticky snacks, which make it easy for bacteria to cause cavities.
Eating to keep teeth strong Like your bones, your teeth also need calcium as an essential mineral, especially when you’re young. “Foods rich in calcium are extremely important,” says William Kuttler, DDS, a dentist in private practice in Dubuque, Iowa. “Without calcium, teeth won’t form,” he explains. In adults, calcium strengthens the bone that supports the teeth to prevent them from loosening over time.
By consuming more dairy products in your diet, you give your teeth the best protection they can get. A glass of low-fat milk, for example, contains about 300 milligrams of calcium, which is about 30% of the daily value (DV) for this mineral. Eight ounces of low-fat and nonfat plain yogurt contain 448 milligrams and 488 milligrams, respectively. You can get slightly smaller amounts of low-fat cheeses and some green leafy vegetables, such as turnip greens, bok choy, and curly endive.
However, you need more than just calcium for healthy teeth. You also need a variety of vitamins, including vitamins D, C and A. Vitamin D is important for your pearly whites because a shortage can cause bone loss and increased inflammation, which is a symptom of gum disease, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The best way to get vitamin D along with calcium is to drink milk fortified with vitamin D.
Your body uses vitamin C to make collagen, which is a tough protein fiber that keeps your gums strong. It’s easy to get enough vitamin C in your diet. A half cup of cooked broccoli, for example, has 58 milligrams of vitamin C, which is almost 90% of the daily value (DV). A medium-sized orange has 80 milligrams or 133% of the DV.
Vitamin A is used to form dentin, a layer of bone-like material just below the surface of the teeth. The best way to get vitamin A is by eating foods rich in beta-carotene, which is converted to vitamin A in the body. Sweet potatoes are a great source. One-half cup provides more than 21,000 IU of vitamin A, or more than four times the DV. Other good sources of beta-carotene are kale and carrots.
Sticky Problems As you can conclude from the above, some foods are good for the inside of your teeth, but others, like sweets, are not so good for the outside, as they can cause bacteria to grow in your mouth. Over time, the bacteria and the acids they produce act almost like tiny dental drills, wearing down the surface of your teeth and allowing cavities to form, says DR. Kuttler.
Sticky foods are even worse. The reason is that these foods stick to the teeth and make it easier for bacteria to stay in the mouth for a long time. However, there is one food known for its stickiness that may actually be good for your teeth. Researchers at the University of Chicago discovered that oleanolic acid, a compound found in grapes, prevents plaque-causing bacteria from sticking to surfaces.
The best way to deal with sticky snacks is to brush your teeth after you’ve eaten them or after a sweet drink. Even if you can’t brush your teeth, simply rinsing your mouth with water will help remove sugars before bacteria can do any damage.
It’s not just what you eat, but also how you eat that helps keep your teeth strong. Your mouth naturally produces saliva every time you chew. So the more you chew, the more saliva there is to wash the sugars off your teeth. As a bonus, saliva also contains calcium and phosphorous, which help neutralize tooth-damaging acids that form in your mouth after eating.
While you eat dinner, consider eating a piece of cheese. Researchers don’t know why, but eating cheese seems to play a role in preventing tooth decay. It may be that cheese contains compounds that neutralize acids in the mouth before they can cause harm.
In other words, while eating sweets causes the pH level of your saliva to drop, turning plaque into tooth-dissolving acid, eating cheese can help maintain the pH to keep you healthy. Researchers found that after reviewing a series of studies across 12 types of cheese, cheddar offered the best dental protection.
Rinse your mouth with black tea. Researchers at the University of Chicago School of Dentistry found that people who rinsed their mouths with black tea several times a day had less plaque buildup than people who rinsed their mouths with water. Experts believe that it is the polyphenols in tea that cause it.
