Tooth decay is a major issue that is affecting a good number of children, making it harder to keep that beautiful smile as they get older.
Suffering from dental decay will have you searching for a pediatric dentist in Utah County or wherever you live, as you try to get some professional help in resolving the issue before it gets any worse.
There are also some ways that you can improve your odds of avoiding tooth decay in the first place, by incorporating some specific types of food in your diet that are known to have certain qualities that help to fight cavities.
Loss of tooth structure
It is important to understand that the problem with tooth erosion is that if left unchecked, it will lead to a progressive and subsequently irreversible loss of your tooth structure.
Our drinking habits are not exactly helping the prognosis, as there is a marked increase in recent years of the number acid beverages that we are consuming.
The problem with fruit juices, soft drinks, sodas and sports drinks, is that they share something in common that is detrimental to the wellbeing of your teeth. They all have a high sugar content and are also very acidic.
Even products that are marketed as diet drinks contain these extrinsic acids, which can lead to erosion, especially when you consume any of these types of drink on a regular basis.
Fighting back against decay
Aside from making a concerted effort to resist the lure of these sugary and acidic beverages if you value your teeth, there are also some foods that are considered to be quite effective in protecting you against tooth decay.
If you do find yourself consuming a sugary snack, one way that you could counteract the effect on your teeth by reducing acidity, is to eat some cheese.
Consuming cheese directly after eating something sugary can help to suppress any potential increase in acidity. Cheese helps to stimulate saliva and is also normally rich in calcium, which redresses the balance in terms of any potential loss of calcium.
Each bit of cheese that you eat will help to mix with your plaque and stick to the teeth, and it also helps to rebuild a bit of your tooth enamel at the same time.
Cow’s milk can help at certain times
The reason why cow’s milk can be a healthy drink to consume in terms of protecting your teeth is not just for the well known benefits of its calcium content, but also because it contains lactose, which is less acidic than other sugars.
Each drink of milk also contains phosphorus and casein in addition to calcium. All of these ingredients have a positive impact on your efforts to reduce decay, but do bear in mind that these benefits will not be available if you use cow’s milk for prolonged nighttime feeding of your child, due to the intense frequency of consumption.
If you are a tea drinker
Black and green teas are the ones to concentrate on if you want to drink some teas that have the ability to give you some protection against tooth decay.
What you are looking for are teas that are especially rich in flavonoids and polyphenols, and these complicated antioxidant compounds are present in black and green teas in particular, as well as being found in a good number of plant foods.
An added bonus with black tea, is that that fluoride it contains can also add an extra bit protection against decay.
Fruit and vegetables
We are often being encouraged to consume as many fruit and vegetables as possible in terms of a healthy balanced diet, but eating plenty of crisp fruits and vegetables will also help in your battle against tooth decay.
Good examples of the sort of foods that you should try to eat on a regular basis are things like apples, as well as carrots and celery, amongst others. The effect of eating these foods includes the fact that they will help to clean plaque from your teeth and give you fresher breath too, so it is a bit of a win-win all round.
When and how you eat matters
It is obviously going to be better for you if you can consume foods in your diet that promote good oral health, but when and how you eat these foods also matters when it comes to getting the maximum benefit.
If you eat foods that take a long time to chew, if they have a high sugar content, this can cause damage if they help to retain some of that sugar in your mouth. If you are going to treat yourself to some sugary snacks, try to eat them at meal times with other foods, rather than in isolation as a snack.
Charlie Giles is a dental assistant, a role he has been in for close to 2 years. Keen to educate more people on their dental hygiene he has taken to blogging for health and lifestyle sites.