Did you know you can help strengthen your teeth naturally? The foods you choose every day play a big role in supporting strong enamel, healthy gums, and overall oral wellness. In this blog, we’ll highlight tooth-friendly options that nourish your smile from the inside out.
Foods That Strengthen Your Teeth
Brushing and flossing are important oral health habits that help keep your teeth clean and healthy, but the foods you eat will also affect your oral health and can even help strengthen your teeth. For that reason, it’s important to add healthy, teeth-strengthening foods to your diet. Also known as dental super foods, these foods will support your overall health and your dental health, and also provide you with many other health benefits.
Garlic
Garlic is an antibacterial food that can help prevent tooth decay. Adding garlic to your meals will help ward off bad bacteria. When bad bacteria accumulates, it leads to tooth decay and cavities. Though excess garlic consumption can cause bad breath, eating it in moderation and using it to season your meals will go a long way in promoting oral health and keeping your teeth strong and healthy.
Dark Chocolate
While sugar is given a bad rap when it comes to oral health, dark chocolate has surprising oral health benefits and can help strengthen your teeth. Dark chocolate contains tannins, flavonoids, polyphenols, and a compound called CBH that hardens tooth enamel. When you reach for dark chocolate, make sure it has a 70% cocoa content or higher.
Fruits and Vegetables
Fruits and vegetables, including leafy greens like kale and spinach, strawberries, and fruits and vegetables with a natural crunch can all strengthen your teeth. Leafy greens contain vitamin C, vitamin A, calcium, and folic acid, and strawberries contain malic acid, which is a natural tooth whitener.
Crunchy fruits and vegetables, like celery, apples, carrots, and even raw onions are antibacterial, have a high water content, fight against bad bacteria, clean the teeth, and also strengthen the gums.
Yogurt
Yogurt is an excellent source of calcium, and calcium is important for strong bones and strong teeth. Yogurt also helps support tooth enamel and contains casein, which is a type of protein. When you add more yogurt to your diet, be sure that you choose unsweetened varieties. Additionally, many kinds of yogurt contain artificial ingredients and flavors, all of which will work against your oral care efforts.
Nuts and Seeds
Nuts and seeds are an ideal source of calcium, phosphorus, minerals, and omegas. Nuts like almonds are high in protein and low in sugar and will help keep you satiated while also removing plaque from your teeth due to their hard makeup. Adding nuts to your diet will improve satiety, provide you with a quality dietary source of healthy fat, and strengthen your teeth.
Proteins
Healthy proteins like quality grassfed beef have a high protein content, which, when consumed on a regular basis, will help support bone health and strengthen your teeth. These foods also help promote lean muscle mass and will keep you fuller for longer so that you don’t reach for snacking foods that will work against your efforts to be as healthy as possible and maintain optimal oral health.
Lifestyle Tips To Help Strengthen Your Teeth
There are other lifestyle habits you can adopt to improve your oral health and the aesthetics of your teeth and smile. These steps may require some discipline at first, but they will promote a healthier and brighter smile and improve your overall health, your energy levels, and even your sleep.
Reduce Your Coffee and Alcohol Consumption
Coffee, some types of tea, and red wine are all notorious for staining the teeth. The excess or even regular consumption of any of these beverages will make your teeth appear yellow or discolored and prevent you from achieving and maintaining your brightest, whitest smile.
Even if you schedule professional whitening treatments and continue to drink significant amounts of coffee, tea, or red wine, your results will be negatively affected, and you’ll need to schedule a follow-up treatment sooner than necessary. When you reduce coffee, tea, and alcohol consumption, you’ll also benefit your health, increase your hydration levels, and improve your sleep.
Use the Right Toothpaste
The toothpaste you use plays a significant role in your oral health and the appearance and condition of your teeth and gums. When you visit your dentist, you can ask for toothpaste recommendations after your exam and dental cleaning.
Your dentist will recommend the right option based on your current oral health and one that will help you reach your oral health and hygiene goals. There are toothpaste brands specifically designed for those who want to decrease tooth sensitivity, make their teeth whiter, cleaner, and brighter, and promote gum health.
Reduce Your Sugar Intake
Sugar increases inflammation and is therefore detrimental to oral health and overall health. Sugar also increases and feeds oral bacteria which contributes to cavities, tooth decay, and gum disease.
When you reduce your refined sugar intake, you’ll help support your blood sugar, you may lose weight, you’ll improve your sleep, and you’ll also limit the number of bad bacteria in your mouth to avoid cavities and tooth decay and all the treatments required to reverse their effects on the teeth.
Get Regular Exercise
Regular exercise plays a significant role in your overall health and, surprisingly, your oral health. Working out reduces the risk of gum disease by promoting heart health. Regular activity will strengthen your muscles and promote healthy gums, which in turn will help strengthen your teeth.
Brush and Floss Your Teeth Daily
Brushing and flossing daily may seem like an obvious oral health habit, but the busyness of life can result in these habits being left undone. When you commit to brushing twice a day and flossing at least once a day, you will notice improvements in your oral health and the condition of your teeth and your gums.
Is Your Diet Impacting Your Dental Health?
If you’re concerned what you are eating is having a negative impact on your dental health you owe it to yourself to speak with an experienced dentist as soon as possible. Please feel free to contact us online or call our Martinsburg, West Virginia dental office directly at 304.267.6059 to schedule your appointment. We provide a wide range of general dentistry care as well as more involved dentistry services for patients throughout the Martinsburg area and look forward to you joining the Cornerstone Dental family.
