Skip to content

Can You Improve Your Smile Through A Modified Diet?

2019 June 13
by admin

Ashby and Burton Dentist, Dr Moe Issa, offers some dietary advice beneficial for your teeth.

At Alexandra Dental Care, we have a wide array of modern equipment at our disposal, including digital scanners and x ray technology. These are hugely beneficial when it comes to advanced procedures such as root canals and dental implant placement.

But despite these advances in modern dental care, basic oral health care is still essential of course. The majority of this comes down to how well we clean our teeth, but also what we eat; whether the food and drink that we consume is beneficial or harmful for our teeth. There are those who argue that ‘healthy eating’ is almost a ‘cure all’, but this is not always the case!

Beware of ‘natural’

We are not ‘anti natural’ but feel that it is very important to say that because something is natural, does not mean that it is safe. There are many ‘natural’ poisons in the world that are quite capable of killing you. Anyone who watches wildlife programmes will also know that nature is quite often far from being kind and gentle, and can indeed be quite brutal.

A good example of this in dentistry is the temptation by some to take a ‘natural’ approach to whitening their teeth. Rather than have it done professionally by a trained cosmetic dentist, some people have tried using lemon juice on their teeth. The logic is that the lemon juice will ‘bleach’ the teeth and whiten them. The reality is that lemon juice is an acid and will actually wear away the enamel. Needless to say, this DIY approach should be avoided!

Foods that are beneficial for our teeth

Anything that we eat will leave residues that are harmful to our teeth and this is why we should always take good care to both brush and floss our teeth regularly. Even a seemingly benign food such as a carrot will contain sugar and will contribute to tooth decay if we don’t look after our teeth.

Having said that, we certainly can choose foods that also have a beneficial effect on our oral health. Some of these include:

Cheese – an alkaline product that is ideal at the end of a meal and helps to prevent some of the damage that any acidic products that we have eaten can cause. It also contains calcium and minerals that are helpful in building strong teeth.

Raw carrots and similar – The crunchiness of carrots and apples can be good for helping to remove some surface staining from our teeth. Do remember though, that anything eaten in excess can do more harm than good.

Leafy greens – These are usually high in vitamins, but also, because they are high in fibre, they require a lot of chewing to break them down. This helps to stimulate the salivary glands and produce the saliva that not only helps to break down food, but flushes away some of the excess “bad” bacteria from our mouths.

Celery – As with raw carrots, this is excellent to help clean your teeth. It also contains high levels of vitamin A and C, both antioxidants that can help to keep your gums healthy.

What not to eat….

The list is endless here I’m afraid, and largely consists of foods that are acidic and/or full of sugar. Try to avoid these as much as you can. Moderation and a good oral health care regimen will go a long way to maintaining healthy teeth. Your waist line will thank you too!

Of course, there are dental problems that no type of diet is ever going to fix; uneven teeth for example. To correct problems like this, you will need to see the dentist. Alexandra Dental Care offers a wide range of modern treatments that can be used to improve the health and appearance of your teeth, so if you are unhappy with any aspect of your smile, why not give us a call at our Ashby and Burton practice to see how we can help you?

Please call our reception team on 01283 216347 to arrange an appointment to see one of our dentists at a time convenient for you.

Dr Moe Issa – GDC – 114242

No comments yet

Comments are closed.