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A Healthy Diet for a Healthy Smile
Keep glowing with the right choice of foods
Most of us know that proper diet is important for good general health, but did you know that it is also important for good oral health? The types of foods you choose and when you eat them can increase your risk for both tooth decay and gum disease. If you are pregnant, the food you eat not only affects your health, but the health of your baby, including your baby’s teeth.
From the beginning … your diet and your baby’s teeth
Even before your baby is born, the teeth, which begin to form very early in pregnancy, can be protected. Your diet affects the way your baby’s teeth develop. It is especially important that you get enough protein, calcium, phosphorus and vitamins A, D, and C. Following “Canada’s Food Guide to Healthy Eating” will ensure a healthy diet for good general and oral health, for both you and your baby.
How does the food you eat cause cavities?
Did you know that every time you eat certain foods, you are not only feeding yourself, but the germs or bacteria that live in your mouth? Bacteria are found in the sticky material that forms on your teeth and along your gumline, called plaque. These bacteria love to eat the sugars and starches found in many foods. They then produce acids that break down the hard surface of the tooth, called enamel. Over time, a cavity can form.
What foods cause cavities?
You may know that table sugar as well as sugar found in foods such as candy and soft drinks can cause cavities. Did you know that the bacteria can also use the sugars or starches found in many healthy foods such as fruit, milk, breads and cereals? The key is not to avoid these foods, as you need them for a healthy balanced diet. However, it is important to look at when and how often you eat them. Each time you eat a food containing a sugar or starch, the bacteria produce harmful acids for as long as two hours afterward! Frequent snacking on these types of foods can increase your risk of cavities.
What can I do to prevent cavities?
- Eat a balanced diet by following “Canada’s Food Guide to Healthy Eating.”
- Starve the bacteria! Eat regular, balanced meals and limit the number of snacks that you eat.
- If you snack, choose foods that are both nutritious and healthy for your teeth. High protein foods such as nuts, cheese, eggs and meat do not promote cavities. Vegetables and plain popcorn are healthy snack choices since they do not feed bacteria.
- Try to avoid sticky foods like fruit leather or dried fruits between meals. Sweet, sticky foods, even if they are healthy, are best eaten at a meal. More saliva is produced at a meal, which helps wash foods from the mouth and reduces the effects of the acids.
- Limit hard candies and lozenges. They are high in sugar and stay in your mouth for a long time.
- Try not to sip on drinks containing sugars, such as pop or sports drinks, juice or sweetened coffee and tea. Diet colas (as do all colas) have an acid that can erode tooth enamel.
- Limit foods such as chips and other “snack foods”. Not only do they provide little nutrition, but bacteria like them too!
- Cheese is healthy for both your body and your teeth! Tooth enamel takes in the calcium and phosphorus found in cheese, and the protein helps to make your teeth strong. Eating a small piece of cheese after a meal or snack can actually prevent cavities and may even reverse the signs of early tooth decay.
What is gum disease?
Gum disease, also known as periodontal disease, is an infection of the soft tissues supporting the teeth. It is caused by plaque bacteria that produce not only acids, but toxins that attack gum tissue. In early gum disease, called gingivitis, the gums become red, swollen, and bleed easily. The good news is that early gum disease can usually be reversed with good oral hygiene. If not, the disease can progress. The inflamed gum tissue can separate from the teeth and form spaces called pockets. Bacteria then move into the pockets, where they continue to cause irritation. If left untreated, the gums and bone that support the teeth can be damaged. This is called periodontitis. Eventually, the teeth can become loose and fall out, and the bone can be destroyed. In fact, periodontal disease is the leading cause of tooth loss over the age of 35.
How does what I eat affect gum disease?
The main cause of gum disease is plaque build-up on the teeth and along the gum line. The same diet suggestions that prevent cavities will also help to prevent gum disease. A lack of certain nutrients can also affect the health of your mouth. Because cells in the mouth turn over very quickly, signs of missing nutrients are often first seen in the mouth. Healthy oral tissues depend on eating enough protein, vitamin A, vitamin C, B vitamins and folic acid. For healthy bones that support the teeth, you need to have enough calcium, vitamin D, magnesium and phosphorus in your diet. Studies have shown that bone loss in the lower jaw may come before bone loss seen in osteoporosis (a disease where bone tissue is weakened).
What should I eat to prevent gum disease?
- Eat a healthy balanced diet with a good variety of foods from all four food groups. Fruits and vegetables and milk products are particularly important for healthy gums.
- Chewing firm, coarse and fibrous foods such as raw fruits and vegetables increases saliva flow. Saliva helps to clean the mouth of bits of food. Chewing fibrous foods also helps to make the
jawbone and support structures strong. - Limit between-meal snacks. If you do snack, make “tooth friendly” choices that also help to prevent tooth decay.
What else can I do to have a healthy mouth?
No matter what you eat, good oral hygiene is essential.
- Brush your teeth after eating at least twice daily. Cleaning away plaque and bits of food from your teeth and gums reduces your risk of cavities and gum disease.
- Floss your teeth every day. Flossing removes bacteria and food particles from between your teeth, where your toothbrush can’t reach.
- When you can’t brush after you eat, chew sugar-free gum containing xylitol. Xylitol has been shown to fight bacteria and is helpful in preventing cavities. Chewing sugarless gum also increases your saliva flow, which helps wash away harmful acids. All it takes is chewing for 15 minutes – any longer is needless wear and tear on your jaws.
- Have regular dental checkups.
Who is at risk of cavities or gum disease?
Tooth decay can occur as early as infancy. If your baby or toddler falls asleep nursing or sucking on a bottle of milk, juice or a sweetened liquid, the fluid pools around the teeth and cavities can develop. Take your baby off the breast or bottle when they fall asleep. If they want a bottle in bed, water is the best choice.
Young children who grow up drinking juice and soft drinks are not going to switch to milk when they are teens. Sweetened drinks often replace milk, with its bone and tooth-building nutrients. Frequent intake of sweetened beverages increases the risk of tooth decay.
Anyone at any age can develop gum disease, but advanced stages are more common in adults. Those with diabetes or immune (defence) system illnesses are more at risk of developing gum disease. Certain conditions or medications that cause a dry mouth can also increase the risk of gum disease, as saliva has a protective effect.
NUTRIENT |
ORAL SIGNS OF INADEQUATE |
FOOD SOURCES |
| Vitamin A | Poor bone and tooth formation, dry mouth | Dark green and orange vegetables and fruits, milk and milk products |
| Vitamin C | Poor tooth formation, gingivitis with easy bleeding, poor healing | Citrus frutis and juices, peppers, strawberries, tomatoes |
| B-Vitamins | Cracks at the corner of the mouth, sore inflamed tongue | Whole grain and enriched breads, cereals and pasta, meats and alternatives, milk and milk products |
| Folic Acid (Folate) | Gingivitis, sores on the tongue or roof of the mouth | Cooked beans, peas and lentils, dark leafy greens, oranges, enriched breads, cereals and pasta |
| Vitamin D and Calcium | Delayed tooth develpment, poor enamel, jaw bone loss | Vitamin D: Sunlight helps the body produce vitamn D. Fortified milk and margarine, fish liver oils and fish (especially salmon, mackeral, sardines, tuna). Calcium: Milk and milk products, calcium-fortified beverages (soy, orange juice), canned salmon, cooked beans, almonds, broccoli |
| Protein | Delayed tooth eruption, cracks at the corners of the mouth, sore swollen tongue | Meats and alternatives, milk and milk products |
Gum disease also increases the risk of tooth decay. When the gums recede (pull away) from the teeth, the roots of the teeth are exposed to plaque. The roots are not protected by enamel, and so are not as strong in resisting the harmful effects of acids.
Choosing the right kinds of foods for a healthy mouth can be a challenge. For more information, talk to your dentist, dental hygienist or a dietitian.
FAMILY HEALTH is written with the assistance of |
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FAMILY HEALTH is written with the assistance of |
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