Everyone has the responsibility of keeping his or her teeth healthy. That’s why you find people putting in a lot of effort in dental hygene, such as scraping the tongue, flossing, brushing, and using mouthwash as a means to maintain oral health. Eating healthy foods can also be a suitable way to supplement your efforts to maintain the health of your teeth. If you need professional help in maintaining your oral health, get in touch with us at Tarzana Dental Care today.
Type of Nutrients that you Need for Healthy Teeth and Gums
Before we proceed into identifying the specific types of food that are healthy for your teeth and gums, let us look at the particular nutrients that you need. Here is a detailed view of the specific nutrients that you should take.
Calcium and Phosphorous
Teeth need minerals to restore the eroded enamel that results from eating acidic foods and drinks. The main minerals that are good for such conditions are calcium and phosphorus. These two minerals are the building blocks of enamel, hence eating food rich in them would be an excellent way to keep your teeth healthy.
Crunchy Foods High in Water
Hard, crunchy, and watery foods have several benefits to teeth. The fact that you are chewing helps in the production of saliva, which is a natural antiseptic and neutralizer. These kinds of foods also help in cleaning and scrubbing the teeth based on their natural abrasiveness. This helps in removing any food particles or plaque that could have stuck on the teeth.
Vitamin D
Vitamin is crucial for overall health. It also plays a vital role in maintaining healthy teeth. The main reason behind the need for vitamin D is helping the body absorb calcium, which is quite useful for the health of your teeth.
Vitamin C
Vitamin C is essential in reducing inflammation and strengthening your blood vessels. These two aspects help in keeping your gums healthy. This nutrient is also useful in producing collagen, which is a crucial protein needed in fighting periodontal disease. So, if one lacks vitamin C, the gum might become sensitive and susceptible to bacteria due to periodontal disease.
There are other elements needed in maintaining healthy teeth and gums, which cannot necessarily be considered as primary nutrients. These elements are as follows:
Antioxidants
Antioxidants have a significant role in maintaining the overall health of the body. They help in fighting bacteria that is the primary cause of periodontal disease. They are also suitable for protecting tissues and gums from bacterial infection and cell damage.
Probiotics
There are a lot of good and bad bacteria. Probiotics are one of the best bacteria that one should have in the body. Some studies show that having probiotics in the body might help in promoting healthy gums and decreasing plaque.
Anthocyanins, Polyphenols, and Arginine
These three elements are ideal for your oral health. Although enough research has not been done regarding these elements, there are strong indications that they can be good candidates for your oral health. Anthocyanins are useful in the prevention of plaque attachment on the teeth and fighting oral cancer. Polyphenols are ideal in slowing bacteria growth, which protects the teeth from gum disease and plaque, while arginine disrupts the formation of plaque.
Specific Foods that Will Keep Your Teeth and Gums Healthy
So far, you have learned the specific diets that you need for your oral care. Now, you should learn about the particular types of foods that are ideal for your gums and teeth. These foods are as follows:
Cheese
Cheese is one of the by-products of milk. Surprisingly, it has different elements that can be useful for the health of your teeth and gums. One of the nutrients that cheese has to offer is calcium. As learned earlier, calcium is good for the strength of the teeth. Also, cheese has a type of protein known as casein, which strengthens the tooth enamel and prevents the formation of cavities.
Yogurt
Yogurt is another milk by-product that has several benefits to the teeth. Yogurt has bacteria known as probiotics, which have active ingredients that slow the growth of cavity-causing bacteria. Also, since it is a by-product of milk, yogurt has calcium, which maintains the strength of the teeth.
Milk
As the primary source of cheese and yogurt, you expect to get various nutrients from milk. Therefore, you expect it to have both calcium and casein. It also has phosphorus, which is a vital mineral in the strengthening of the enamel. Due to the presence of casein, most dentists recommend the intake of milk after eating sugary products since it helps in washing down all the bacteria that could have formed.
Leafy Greens
The family of leafy greens contains vegetables such as collard greens, kale, chard, spinach, and arugula. All these vegetables contain several nutrients such as Vitamin A, C, and K, magnesium, antioxidants, folate, fiber, iron, calcium, and potassium. Minerals such as magnesium, calcium, and iron strengthen the enamel, while iron maintains a healthy gum.
Also, if you chew leafy greens, it stimulates the production of saliva, which is suitable for the washing of food particles and acids. On the other hand, vitamin C and calcium help in reducing inflammation and reduce the chances of getting gum disease.
Other Vegetables
Although leafy greens are part of vegetables, there are some essential nutrients that they do not have and can be found in other vegetables such as broccoli, butternut, and squash. These vegetables have a unique antibacterial compound known as lentinan, which helps in fighting bacteria and plaque build-up.
Water
Water comes with several benefits. All these benefits are suited for the whole body, teeth, and gums as well. Some of the oral benefits of water include:
- Drinking water washes the food particles and residues that accumulate during the day. This is a great way to keep your teeth safe from cavity-causing bacteria
- Drinking water does away with dry mouth. Dry mouth is a condition where one lacks saliva. However, while one drinks water, this condition is eliminated which keeps the teeth safe from bacteria and acids
- Drinking plenty of water prevents halitosis by rinsing the odor-causing bacteria. Halitosis is a condition whereby you experience bad breath due to bacteria or dry mouth
- Drinking water also helps in hydrating your gum. If you have weak gums, this can cause gingivitis, tooth loss, and decay. Therefore, drinking plenty of water helps in the production of saliva which is ideal for maintaining healthy gum
- Whenever you take acidic foods, the PH levels of your mouth are usually altered. However, with the intake of water, one can maintain a neutral PH level since water has a neutral PH level.
Fish
Fish contains three significant nutrients, which include omega- 3, Vitamin D, and oils. With omega-3, problems associated with periodontal disease are alleviated. On the other hand, fish oils help in protecting teeth against gum disease. Finally, Vitamin D facilitates the absorption of calcium, which is an essential nutrient in the health of the teeth.
Nuts
Nuts maintain strong teeth based on their hardiness. Also, nuts such as peanuts and almonds have calcium and Vitamin D, which are quite essential in maintaining healthy gums and teeth.
Also, recent studies have shown that the polyunsaturated fats that are present in nuts also help in fighting the inflammation of the gum, which leads to gum disease.
Meat
Meat has a couple of nutrients, whereby some are necessary for the health of the teeth and gums. Some of the essential nutrients that can be useful to the teeth and gums include vitamin D, Calcium, sodium, and potassium. Unlike milk, meat does not have casein, which is ideal in fighting bacteria. However, meats such as the liver are high in vitamin D, which is vital in strengthening the teeth and the gums.
Acidic Fruits
Acidic fruits consist of fruits such as lemon, cranberries, blue plums, pineapples, apples, peaches, mangoes, oranges, and grapes. All these have different acidic levels and are rich in Vitamin C. As indicated above; Vitamin C is ideal in strengthening the gum and protecting the teeth against gum disease. Also, fruits such as apples are crunchy and contain water, which is essential in the health of your teeth.
It is recommended to avoid eating a lot of acidic fruits since it can lead to high acidic levels in your mouth, which can damage your enamel. For that reason, you should take plenty of water after eating such fruits to avoid the possibility of damaging your enamel.
Gum
Unlike popular belief, chewing gum can be suitable for the health of your teeth. Chewing gums helps your mouth in producing saliva, which helps in rinsing the mouth and neutralizing any acid that might have accumulated. Therefore, it is advisable to chew gum after a meal to maintain optimal oral health.
Although gums are quite suitable for your oral health, one should avoid consuming sugary gums since they might have opposite effects on the teeth. Therefore, you should consider trying sugarless chewing gum to protect your mouth.
Carrot
Although carrot is classified as a vegetable, it offers a lot of benefits to the teeth and gums. One of the significant benefits is the ability to avoid the build-up of plaque and avoid dental decay. This is achieved through the chewing and abrasiveness that comes from its consumption.
Another benefit of carrots is the stimulation of a high level of saliva while chewing. The saliva works as an antiseptic and also breaks plaque and tartar that could have formed. Carrots also have beneficial vitamins such as potassium, Vitamin A, Vitamin K1, and Biotin, which are necessary for the health and strength of the teeth.
Garlic
Garlic has remained a common household vegetable for quite a long time. However, most people are not aware of its capacity to protect the gum from periodontal disease. Garlic has an antibacterial property that helps in preventing the build-up of bacteria that lead to gum disease. The antibacterial property is found in vitamin C that is plenty in garlic.
Whole Grain
Whole grains are rich in vitamins and minerals, which are suitable for healthy teeth. Consuming whole grain has proven that it can reduce the risk of gum diseases and keep the teeth safe from excess sugar. They also keep the teeth strong since they require quite some force while chewing them. Some of the whole grains that one should consider eating are cereals, crackers, popcorn, pasta, and crackers.
Ginger
Most people consider ginger as part of the spices needed in cooking food. However, it has some additional benefits to your teeth and gum. The health benefits that ginger has to offer are multifold and includes the following:
- Strengthening the gum tissues
- Removing plaque
- Keeping the cavities away
- Reduce chances of gingivitis and gum disease
- Prevent inflammatory gum diseases
- Prevent oral cancer and severe oral infections
Onions
Raw onion might not be friendly to your breath, but offers a lot of benefit to your mouth by preventing gum disease and cavity. Onion contains an antimicrobial sulfur compound that can help in fighting off harmful diseases. The compound is quite useful in raw onion compared with cooked ones.
Kiwis
Kiwi is usually confused with being a citrus fruit, whereas in the real sense, it is a berry. Though a small fruit, it contains a couple of nutrients that can maintain your oral health. One of the nutrients that kiwis have is vitamin C, which protects the gum against gingivitis.
Also, the sweetness that kiwis have to offer works as an excellent remedy towards tooth-wrecking snacks. You should note that although kiwis have natural sugar, you should wash away the sugar with plenty of water since it can be harmful to your teeth.
Lastly, kiwi seeds can also be suitable for your oral health. The small black seeds contain omega 3, antioxidants, and protein, which are necessary for your oral health. Beware of the small seeds since they can end up getting stuck between your teeth, despite their benefits.
Pears
Pears are slightly different from other citrus fruits due to the low level of acidity. Therefore, they have all the properties associated with citrus when it comes to oral health, although the acidity is quite low. They help in strengthening the gum and teeth and keeping the teeth clean due to their abrasiveness.
Shiitake Mushrooms
Shiitake mushrooms have antimicrobial and antibacterial properties that are suitable in preventing cavities and gum disease. Their properties also help in preventing gingivitis, which means that your oral health is considered through various aspects.
Celery
Although there are a lot of benefits that result from vegetables, adding celery into the diet can be a significant boost to your overall oral health. One of the significant benefits of considering celery in your diet is its anti-inflammatory properties. Gum disease usually occurs through inflammation, which can be prevented with an anti-inflammatory food.
Besides that, the crunchiness of the celery’s stalk stimulates the production of saliva, which keeps your mouth’s PH at neutral and works as an antiseptic. Also, as you chew the stalk, this works as a natural way to keep off plaque and tartar and to strengthen the teeth and the gum.
Wasabi
If you are a sushi aficionado, you probably have noticed wasabi as one of the ingredients of this famous Japanese dish. Wasabi has an antibacterial property, which is the primary reason behind its usage in the raw fish. The antibacterial property is ideal in protecting the teeth from bacteria, tooth infection, and gum disease.
Sweet Potatoes
Sweet potatoes offer plenty of vitamin A which is ideal in the maintenance of the soft tissues and mucous membrane of the gums. Vitamin A is also suitable for maintaining keratin, which is ideal in the formation of teeth enamel.
Sesame Seeds
Sesame seeds might seem small but can work wonders in maintaining your oral health. These little wonders can scrape plaque from the teeth and contain calcium, which is ideal for strengthening the teeth.
Raisins
Raisin is known as natural candy and contains a couple of oral benefits. Such benefits are as follows:
- Has the right sugar content such as glucose and fructose which is safer compared with other types of sugars
- Raisin has phytochemicals that help in killing the cavity-causing bacteria
- Phytochemicals also prevent plaque from sticking on the teeth. This also makes it easy to remove them
- Chewing raising helps in the production of saliva, which has quite a lot of health benefits
Red Wine
Many of us enjoy drinking a glass of red wine. However, most people are unaware of the oral benefits that red wine has to offer. According to recent research, the polyphenols contained in the red wine prevents bacteria from sticking to the teeth. This is based on their antioxidant nature, which inhibits the growth of bacteria. Coffee also contains polyphenols, although one should avoid consuming too much sugar.
Find a Dental Care Expert Near Me
The kind of food that you take determines your oral health. It is vital to seek professional guidance in the sort of foods to consider to ensure that you maintain healthy teeth and gums. Also, you should find a professional dental care expert who can examine your teeth and ensure that they are healthy. Tarzana Dental Care offers remarkable dental services and has the resources needed to provide services to achieve customer satisfaction. Contact us today at 818-708-3232 and let us help you maintain your oral health.