How Nutrition Affects Your Teeth
Proper nutrition and a well-balanced diet is one of the best defenses for your oral health. Providing your body with the right amounts of vitamins and minerals helps your teeth and gums-as well as your immune system stay strong and ward off infection, decay, and disease.
Harmful acids and bacteria in your mouth are left behind from eating foods high in sugar and carbohydrates. These include carbonated beverages, some kinds of fruit juices, and many kinds of starch foods like pasta, bread, and cereal.
Children’s Nutrition and Teeth
Good eating habits that begin in early childhood can go a long way to ensuring a lifetime of good oral health.
Children should eat foods rich in calcium and other kinds of minerals, as well as a healthy balance of the essential food groups like vegetables, fruits, dairy products, poultry, and meat. Fluoride supplements may be helpful if you live in a community without fluoridated water but consult with our office first. (Be aware many kinds of condiments contain sugar, as well as fruits and even milk.)
Sugary Foods Not Good for Teeth or Overall Health
Allowing your children to eat excessive amounts of junk food (starches and sugars)-including potato chips, cookies, crackers, soda, even artificial fruit roll-ups, and granola bars-only places them at risk for serious oral health problems, including obesity, osteoporosis, and diabetes. The carbonation found in soda, for example, can erode tooth enamel. Encourage your child to use a straw when drinking soda; this will help keep at least some of the carbonated beverage away from the teeth.
Adult Nutrition and Teeth
There’s no discounting the importance of continuing a healthy balanced diet throughout your adult life.
