You may remember being warned as a child that eating too much candy or snacking too frequently can cause cavities. This is true, but fortunately, not all food is a danger to your smile. Like the rest of your body, your mouth requires an adequate amount of minerals and nutrients to remain strong and healthy. Today, we explain how what you eat affects your smile, including what’s beneficial and what you should keep away from your teeth.
Healthy Smile Food
Calcium is perhaps best known for its role in forming and maintaining your strong, healthy bones. For that, and other reasons, the mineral is also an essential component to your oral health. For instance, by contributing to a strong jawbone, calcium helps fortify your smile’s foundation, within which the roots of your teeth are embedded. Also, calcium is a major building block of tooth enamel—the strong, highly-mineralized substance that surrounds and protects your teeth. Ingesting an adequate amount of calcium through your diet can help ensure that your teeth maintain enough of the mineral to keep your enamel strong, reducing the risks of developing tooth decay.
Unhealthy Smile Food
Making sure you receive enough nutrition isn’t the only step to keeping your smile healthy. The dangers from candy, cookies, cakes, and other sugar-loaded treats stems from certain oral bacteria that contribute to plaque formation. These germs consume sugar and other carbohydrates, and then convert them into acid that saps minerals from your teeth, leaving your enamel significantly weakened. To inhibit acid production and exposure, limit the amount of times you snack throughout the day. Brushing and flossing your teeth every day, at least twice a day, can help you control the bacterial population, reducing the amount of damage they can do to your teeth’s defenses.
Learn More About Keeping Your Smile Healthy
Aside from the foods you eat, the time you spend taking care of your smile will also determine its long-term health and attractiveness. To learn more, schedule a consultation with your dentist by calling Columbia Dental & Orthodontics in Dallas, TX today at (214) 827-8000.