Keeping our teeth healthy and strong is not only about brushing our teeth daily and scheduling frequent dental visits. Even at a younger age, our parents teach us that these are essential habits for detecting dental health problems like cavities. However, do you know that having great oral and dental health is much more than regular dental check-ups and dental hygiene habits like brushing and flossing?
If you want to achieve and maintain excellent dental and oral health throughout your lifetime, you cannot overlook the need for great nutrition. Your daily dietary habits and lifestyle can significantly affect your oral health, from strengthening your tooth enamel to creating an ideal environment for harmful bacteria to thrive.
Excellent oral health requires eating all the healthy foods rich in nutrients necessary to keep your teeth healthy and pearly white for a bright smile. Read on for more information on the key foods you need to include in your diet for healthy teeth that you and your loved ones deserve.
Top Eighteen Foods That You Need to Incorporate in Your Diet for Healthy and Strong Teeth
Your mouth is a gateway to not only your general health but also your dental and oral health. The expression "you are what you eat "is true, particularly in our dental and oral health. That is why it is important to maintain a healthy diet.
While all of the foods briefly discussed below are important for your general health and well-being, they also have crucial nutrients that can help boost your dental and oral health:
Nuts
If you are looking for a perfect snack that is enjoyable to eat and healthy for your teeth, nuts would make an excellent addition to your diet, especially if you are battling dry mouth issues. Since they are low in sugar and carbohydrates, nuts help prevent tooth caries and cavities due to their bacteria-fighting benefits and low acidity.
Brazil nuts and almonds are among the most nutrient-dense nut options you could consider and enjoy snacking on as you watch your favorite TV shows. Aside from being rich in fiber and calcium, which helps strengthen your teeth' enamel, nuts stimulate saliva production, which helps keep bacteria at bay.
Leafy Greens
Leafy greens like romaine lettuce, kale, and celery are rich in folic acid, calcium, and other crucial minerals and vitamins your gums and teeth love. Leafy greens like spinach also contain oxalic acid, which can help discolor your teeth' enamel over time for an improved smile appearance.
Eggs
Eggs are undoubtedly many people's favorite food, especially during breakfast. Fortunately, this protein-dense food is readily available and affordable, meaning adding more eggs to your diet should not be difficult.
While you can fry your eggs for taste, most dentists and nutritionists recommend boiling or poaching them. Ensuring you do not overcook your eggs retains nutrients like phosphorus and vitamins D and K, which are crucial for oral and dental health.
Dairy Products
If you love consuming milk-related products, the good news is that you are on the right track. Aside from being rich in critical nutrients like proteins and calcium, which help strengthen your teeth' enamel (outer surface of the tooth), dairy products can help neutralize acidity in your mouth, lessening the chances of bacterial infection.
Examples of dairy products you can incorporate into your diet to improve your dental health include yogurt and cheese.
Carrots, Celery, and Other Crunchy Vegetables
Most veggies, like celery and carrots, help boost dental health because they are fibrous, which helps brush and scrape plaque from your teeth, keeping bacteria at bay. Aside from their cavity-fighting properties, carrots, celery, and other crunchy vegetables help stimulate saliva production, which wipes food particles and harmful bacteria from your mouth.
Water
Water is not technically food, but it is worth mentioning because you need to understand how crucial it is not only for your entire body but also for the health of your mouth. Here are the different ways water promotes dental health:
- Water helps wash away food particles and residue that linger in your mouth after eating
- Water helps remove and wash away stains from the surface of your teeth after drinking a staining beverage like red wine or coffee
- Water helps neutralize acidity in your mouth, preventing erosion of your teeth enamel
- Proper hydration helps prevent dry mouth issues
Garlic and Onions
Aside from making your foods tastier, these aromatic foods can also help boost your dental and oral health because they have properties like allicin that help reduce harmful bacteria that cause bad breath, cavities, and gum inflammation.
Fatty Fish
Calcium is a vital mineral that almost every part of your body needs. Aside from being essential to your brain's health, calcium can help keep your teeth and gums healthy. While several foods, like leafy greens, milk, tofu, and soy, contain calcium, your body cannot absorb it without adequate vitamin D.
That is where fatty fish is vital to your diet because it contains sufficient vitamin D that your body needs to utilize calcium for improved bone and enamel strength. Adding fatty fish like mackerel and salmon to your diet is a delicious and simple solution to this issue.
These two fish are common and excellent sources of vitamin D that complement your body's calcium intake to help you stay on top of your dental health.
Lean Meat
Incorporating lean meat into your diet is another way to boost the health of your teeth and gums. Lean meat like beef or chicken contains phosphorus and proteins, which help keep your teeth strong and healthy.
Without adequate phosphorus and protein in your daily diet, your teeth could become prone to breaking and fracturing, even if you already have sufficient vitamin D and calcium.
Crunchy Fruits
Although one of the ways to stay on top of your dental health is by cutting or lowering your sugar intake, that does not mean you cannot incorporate a sweet fruit into your diet. Like crunchy vegetables, crunchy fruits like apples are rich in fiber, which acts as a natural toothbrush for cleaning away food particles and plaque from the surface of your teeth.
Whole Grains
Unlike simple carbohydrates that can stick on the surface of your teeth and contribute to plaque formation, whole grains contain complex carbohydrates that provide bacteria with little digestible food to feast on. Whole grains like oats, brown rice, and barley also contain iron, B vitamins, and other nutrients, which help keep your gums and teeth healthy.
Green Tea
Do you know mouth bacteria feast on sugars that linger in your mouth after eating sugary foods and release acidic excrete that can erode your teeth' enamel, leading to cavities? Luckily, drinking green tea is a tasty solution to this issue. Green tea contains polyphenols that kill and suppress these harmful bacteria while reducing the acidity in your mouth and the chances of plaque formation.
Green tea also contains a crucial antioxidant known as catechin, which helps reduce inflammation and combat gum diseases. By protecting the bone structure that supports your teeth and gums, green tea helps boost your overall dental health.
Shiitake Mushrooms
Mushrooms can help prevent or reduce tooth decay and gum issues because they contain a polysaccharide that helps break down plaque on the surface of your teeth and below your gum line. If you are unsure how to incorporate shiitake mushrooms into your diet, adding some to your soup, mixed vegetables, or omelet would be a great place to start.
Sweet Potatoes
Another nutritious food you should consider adding to your diet is sweet potatoes. Aside from being tasty and sweet, they contain vitamin A, which helps maintain your gums' soft tissues and mucous membranes. This vitamin also helps maintain keratin protein, which promotes the formation and regeneration of tooth enamel.
Strawberries
Strawberries contain vitamin C, which helps regenerate and repair body tissues, including those in the mouth. Believe it or not, strawberries also contain malic acid, which can help whiten your teeth for an improved smile appearance. Ensure your diet has veggies and fresh fruits like apples, strawberries, pineapples, and pears, which are rich in vitamin C for improved dental and oral health.
Chocolate
As long as you eat it in moderation and it is at least 70 percent cacao, chocolate can help boost dental health. Dark chocolate is a superfood for your dental health because it contains a compound known as cocoa bean husk (CBH), which helps strengthen your teeth' enamel, making you less prone to tooth decay or cavity issues.
However, do not forget to brush your teeth after feasting on dark chocolate to prevent tooth discoloration.
Sugarless Candy and Gum
Although sugarless candy and gum are not technically foods, most dentists will recommend chewing them to help boost your dental health. Most sugarless chewing gums typically contain erythritol and xylitol, which help prevent tooth caries and cavities by inhibiting plaque formation on your teeth's enamel.
Chewing gum and candy also promotes the production of saliva, which washes away food residue and particles stuck on the surface of your teeth.
Cranberries
Like green tea, cranberries contain polyphenols, which provide crucial antioxidant benefits that prevent plaque formation on the surface of your teeth, keeping cavities at bay. Since some cranberries contain added sugars, which is not ideal for your dental health, you should ensure the ones you pick to eat are sugar-free.
The above-discussed types of food are not the only ones you can eat to stay on top of your dental and oral health. If you are unsure what foods to incorporate into your diet, consult your dentist for recommendations.
Foods You Need to Avoid for Healthy Gums and Teeth
Now that you know various foods that can boost your dental health, you could want to know foods that are an enemy to your dental and oral health. Regardless of how diligent you are in performing your daily dental hygiene habits, like brushing and flossing, certain foods can reverse your efforts, putting your dental health at risk.
Examples of these foods include (but are not limited to) the following:
- Sugary and sticky foods like candy, chewable sweets, and pies
- Simple carbohydrates like cereals, cakes and cookies
- Acidic drinks and fruits like tomatoes, vinegar, and coffee
- Popcorns because they can injure soft tissues of your mouth, like gums
- Citrus fruits like grapefruits and lemons
- Fried starches and foods like potato chips are enemies to your dental health because they can stick to the surface of your teeth, promoting plaque formation
- Dried fruits with concentrated sugar and little or no nutrients
Some of these foods are not bad for your dental and oral health when consumed in moderation because they also help boost your general health. However, these foods can still cause erosion of your teeth enamel, increasing the chances of developing decay and cavities.
Therefore, brushing and flossing your teeth immediately after taking your last bite of any of these foods is advisable to eliminate any lingering residue or particles.
Take Away Points
You can take control of your oral and dental health at home by practicing recommended dental hygiene habits and eating healthy foods. While dental hygiene habits like visiting your dentist every six months and brushing your teeth daily can help you stay on top of your dental health, it is not enough to maintain healthy teeth and gums for a lifetime.
Excellent nutrition is the key to preventing dental and oral health issues from developing in the first place. Proper nutrition and well-thought-out dietary choices can help you avoid dental problems like cavities and unnecessary tooth fractures.
Find a Dentist Near Me
Healthy eating habits can boost your dental and oral health when complemented with home-based dental hygiene habits like flossing and brushing. Our reliable dentists at Lasting Impressions Dental Spa understand the importance of excellent nutrition for your dental and oral health. We invite you to call us at 818-751-5100 to schedule your first consultation with us, wherever you are in Encino.
If you have any questions about healthy foods for your teeth or any other questions, we would be glad to answer them. We will review your diet and lifestyle to recommend tasty and healthy foods you can incorporate into your diet to stay on top of your dental and oral health.
