Consultation with a doctor When it comes to the oral cavity, the expression “you are what you eat” becomes truly meaningful. Sweet foods such as sugar, candy, and carbonated drinks lead to the destruction of tooth enamel. Other foods, such as dairy products or vegetables, on the other hand, help fight plaque buildup and act like a natural toothbrush, delaying dental treatment for longer.
So, what foods promote dental health?
The influence of nutrition on dental health
To maintain oral health, a number of microelements are required - calcium, fluoride and phosphorus. A person gets them from food. If the diet contains few healthy and micronutrient-rich foods, the enamel weakens and is more difficult to restore.
Dental plaque is a thin, invisible film on the teeth that maintains the health and microflora of the mouth. When a person eats sugary or starchy foods, it reacts with plaque to form acids. These acids attack the enamel, destroying it.
Consuming sugar in small quantities will not lead to tooth decay or inflammatory diseases. But if harmful foods are constantly in the diet, then undesirable consequences will certainly arise, and treatment of caries cannot be avoided.
Excess sugar and lack of calcium and phosphorus leads to caries and inflammatory diseases of the oral cavity.
Preventive measures to protect teeth during the holidays
To avoid painful dental diseases and injuries, experts recommend following the following rules:
- brush your teeth regularly (preferably morning and evening);
- consume moderate amounts of sweets;
- After eating meat and fish dishes, be sure to use a toothpick;
- use mouth rinses with an antibacterial effect;
- Never open bottles of champagne with your teeth;
- in advance (before the holidays) undergo a preventive examination at the dentist and cure existing diseases.
Helpful advice! Dentists recommend undergoing professional teeth cleaning and remineralization (saturation of enamel with useful minerals) a few days before the holidays. And if acute situations arise (deep caries, gumboil, etc.), it is advised to immediately consult a doctor. Experienced specialists at the Avesta family clinic will help you solve the problem quickly and painlessly. Opening hours: daily from 10.00 to 20.00 (7 days a week).
Protecting your teeth during the holidays is a necessary condition for maintaining good health for many years (after all, diseased teeth have a negative impact on digestion and the functioning of the entire body as a whole). Therefore, follow simple preventive rules, eat less sweets and do not delay visiting the dentist. Then there will definitely be one less problem. The Avesta Clinic wishes you and your loved ones health. And let the upcoming holidays not affect the health of your teeth in any way (except in a positive way).
Products that are harmful
What is good for your teeth is good for your entire body. Poor nutrition causes physical and psychological problems. Oral diseases lead to a decrease in overall immunity. And with pain or active inflammation, it will be difficult to eat and communicate.
So, harmful foods for teeth are:
- Sweets. This includes chocolate, cakes, cookies, candies. The sugar contained in these products settles on the enamel and subsequently destroys it. Also, crowns and fillings placed on teeth wear out faster. The worst are those sweets that are difficult to clean out of the mouth, like candy or caramel. Small pieces of caramel get stuck between teeth. This is significantly worse than, for example, chocolate, which easily washes out when brushing or rinsing.
- Soft drinks. Store-bought soda and iced tea contain equal amounts of harmful sugars, which erode tooth enamel and lead to tooth decay. It is better to give up such drinks and switch to water or unsweetened loose leaf tea. If it is difficult to give up carbonated sweet drinks, then after each use you should rinse your mouth with warm water.
- Hard and starchy foods. These are crackers, chips, popcorn, nuts and dried fruits. They not only get stuck between the teeth, but also scratch the enamel and gums. Scratches turn into small cracks. Food will get stuck there, which will lead to inflammatory processes.
- Sour. Citrus fruits and juices from them, lemon and berries - all this harms teeth. High acid content is harmful to oral health. It is worth limiting the consumption of foods with high acidity. It is advisable to drink juices through a straw - contact with the enamel will be significantly reduced, along with the risk of undesirable consequences.
- Coloring products. Black currants and chokeberries strongly stain tooth enamel. But these berries also contain vitamins that are good for teeth. So you can eat them, but you shouldn’t overuse them. The second product is coffee. It is not only capable of staining the enamel dark, but also leaching calcium from the enamel. Therefore, it is better to reduce coffee to 1 cup per day or, if possible, completely abandon it. Professional teeth whitening will give longer lasting results if you follow a “white” diet.
How to save enamel?
This list of harmful foods does not mean at all that now you should not eat porridge, dried fruits and cannot afford a sip of soda if you really want to. You just need to remember that if you have eaten anything from this “prohibited list,” you need to brush your teeth or at least rinse your mouth, but in no case pick at them with toothpicks or mechanically impact your teeth and gums, except with a toothbrush and irrigator.
Of course, modern pharmaceuticals offer all kinds of means for remineralization and strengthening of enamel. However, you need to understand that its cultivation and restoration does not occur. The maximum that we can achieve using biological pastes and gels is to create a kind of hermetic environment around the tooth, its external minimal protection. In addition, it is worth considering that there are medicinal pastes that are prescribed by the doctor, and there are pastes from the group that I call “supermarket”. The latter can only mask the source of the problem, but nothing more. To carry out successful remineralization, you will first need professional dental treatment - it is important to thoroughly clean the tissues, and here you cannot do without professional hygiene.
Products good for teeth
- Dairy products. Milk, yogurt, cheeses and cottage cheese are the main products that strengthen teeth. They are rich in microelements necessary for enamel - phosphorus, calcium and fluorine. As well as the protein casein, which is involved in the formation of protective plaque. Dairy products also contain vitamin D, which helps calcium be absorbed properly. The main thing is to choose dairy products without sugar or sweet additives.
- Greenery. Leafy greens are always at the top of the list for healthy foods. It is full of vitamins and microelements that are so necessary for the body and, in particular, teeth. Calcium, folic acid, B vitamins strengthen enamel and reduce inflammatory processes, which can prevent rapid gum treatment.
- Hard vegetables and fruits. Apples, pears, carrots, celery and cucumbers contain a full range of vitamins and minerals. This helps to form the correct microflora in the oral cavity and strengthen teeth. The fibrous, hard structure of fruits and vegetables works like a toothbrush - a natural massage of the gums and a complete cleansing of the oral cavity.
- Water and weak teas. Water helps get rid of food particles between the teeth and rinses the mouth. This not only prevents inflammation, but also eliminates bad breath. Tea - green, white or weak black - also has a positive effect on the condition of the enamel. Green tea contains fluoride, which is essential for teeth.
- Seafood. It is known that fish and other seafood are the main source of omega-3, phosphorus, calcium and fluoride. All these microelements are necessary, so eating fish will definitely improve the condition of the oral cavity.
Each product affects not only the general condition, but also the health of the oral cavity. It is important to maintain a healthy balance in your diet, focusing on healthy foods and reducing harmful ones to a minimum.
After eating unhealthy food, you should rinse your mouth with water to minimize the negative effects.
The main thing is not to forget to brush your teeth twice a day and use special floss.
Professional oral cleaning will help you maintain a beautiful and healthy smile. The doctor's consultation
Don't like teeth
- sticky sweets that stick to the teeth and spoil not only healthy, but also cured teeth;
- Sugar-rich foods - when combined with saliva, they release harmful acids that contribute to the destruction of tooth enamel. If you have a sweet tooth, eat sugary foods infrequently and try to brush your teeth immediately after such a dessert meal;
- liver and chips - due to slow dissolution in the mouth, such products have an even more negative effect on the enamel and provoke dental caries and other dental problems;
- neglect of hard and rough foods - constant eating of foods and dishes of a soft consistency provokes the formation of tartar and, as a result, other enamel lesions;
- sudden changes in temperature - do not wash down ice cream with hot coffee, or boiling broth with ice water. Due to sudden changes in temperature, enamel becomes brittle and susceptible to damage.
- nuts in shell - do not chew nuts and other hard objects with your teeth; for this there are special tongs, scissors and other tools that are not dangerous for dental treatment;
- bananas and raisins - these products adversely affect the microflora in the oral cavity, so do not overuse them or rinse your mouth after meals;
- smoking – tobacco spoils the color of teeth and reduces immunity, which leads to more frequent diseases of the oral cavity and the whole body;
- citric acid in drinks and food;
- cleaning with third-party devices – contact of teeth with metal products, especially not sterile ones, is contraindicated. Therefore, stop removing food debris from your teeth with a needle and other improvised objects - buy normal toothpicks or dental floss for safe oral hygiene;
- Teeth whitening – this procedure not only improves the color of the enamel, but also injures it. Therefore, it is not recommended to undergo this procedure more than once every six months;
- lack of fluoride and calcium - with a lack of these microelements, the condition of the teeth seriously worsens. Calcium can be bought at the pharmacy in the form of tablets and taken independently, while fluoridation of teeth and the use of fluoride paste are prescribed by a doctor.
Why do teeth crumble in adults?
Causes of tooth decay
Habits that ruin your teeth
What to do to strengthen enamel
Prevention from destruction
Not everyone can boast of healthy and strong teeth. The reason is simple: most of us come to the dentist only when faced with serious problems. One of them is the destruction of enamel: teeth literally begin to crumble into small pieces. Why does this happen and how to strengthen weak enamel?
What to do to strengthen enamel
Once the cause of the disease is determined, the doctor prescribes treatment. If the cause of tooth decay is untreated caries or mechanical damage, then the issue can be solved with the help of prosthetics. If the problem is a lack of vitamins or changes in hormonal levels, then specialized specialists will be involved in the treatment process.
Rules
Dentist recommendations for maintaining a beautiful and healthy smile:
- Drink more water;
- Eat fresh fruits, berries, greens, which are the main source of vitamins and minerals;
- Fresh nuts and seeds;
- Algae that contain amino acids and iodine;
- Herbal teas, chicory;
- Never chew foods and objects that are not intended for this with your teeth;
- Brush your teeth at least twice a day.
Get a preventive examination every six months at Olis-Dent dentistry to promptly detect and prevent the occurrence of dental diseases.
