Diet Affects Your Teeth!

As soon as you take a bite of food or a sip of a drink, chemical reactions begin in your mouth. Sugars in the food or drink react with chemicals in your saliva, and with bacteria in your mouth, to create acids. Those acids begin to erode the enamel on your teeth. If the food you are eating is extremely sugary or sticky, it will stick in crevices in your teeth or in between your teeth. This leads to decay. The more often you eat or drink, the more often you begin this decay cycle. One reason that the professionals at Library Park Dental will encourage the use of sealants is to keep the crevices in your teeth to a minimum so that the decay cycle will have less opportunity to take hold.

Certain foods are better for your teeth than others. Foods such as meats, cheeses, nuts, and milk add calcium and phosphorus to the tooth enamel in a process known as re-calcification. This counteracts the acid and decay that was mentioned earlier.

Other foods that are helpful are foods with high water content like crunchy fruits and vegetables. The water helps to dilute the sugars and mixes with your saliva and helps to wash away small pieces of food that can stick to the teeth and cause decay.

If you eat foods that have high acidic content (tomatoes, citrus fruits, anything with vinegar) then you should be sure to eat them with other foods to minimize the effect on enamel. You also should be sure to drink water or rinse your mouth with water in order to diminish any reaction.

Foods or drinks that are high in sugar such as cookies, cakes, muffins, pretzels, potato chips, dried fruits, juice, or soda should be kept to a minimum. The high sugar content causes the teeth to be bathed in sugars, and the likelihood of decay is high.

While many people think of diet as only something that affects the rest of the body, the reality is that what you eat and drink affects your teeth first. Drink plenty of water or milk, and avoid sweetened beverages. Your teeth will thank you!