A TOOTH-PROTECTION PLAN
Even though teeth are hard and bonelike, they’re very much alive. Like your skin, muscles, or any other part of your body, they must be well-nourished to stay healthy. “In fact, selecting nutritious foods is probably as important as staying away from cavity-causing foods,” says Dominick DePaola, DDS, PhD, senior consultant to the Education Alliance in Framingham, Massachusetts.
While there’s no substitute for regular brushing and flossing, choosing the right foods, particularly those that provide large amounts of calcium and vitamins A, C, and D, will help keep your teeth and gums strong. Here’s a case in point: Researchers in Japan analyzed the diets of 57 seventy-four-year-olds and counted their teeth. The scientists found that the people who had eaten the fewest vegetables, fish, and shellfish also had the fewest teeth.
While you’re eating nutritious foods, it’s important not to bombard your teeth frequently with sugary, sticky snacks, which make it easy for cavity-causing bacteria to flourish, says Donna Oberg, RD, a nutritionist with the Seattle–King County Department of Public Health in Kent, Washington.
Just as bones need calcium to stay strong, your teeth also depend on this essential mineral, especially during the early years. “Calcium-rich foods are extremely important,” says William Kuttler, DDS, a dentist in private practice in Dubuque, Iowa. “Without calcium, teeth won’t form,” he explains. And in adults, calcium fortifies the bone that supports the teeth so they don’t loosen over time.
Getting more dairy foods in your diet is about the best protection teeth can have. A glass of low-fat milk, for example, contains about 300 milligrams of calcium, or about 30 percent of the Daily Value (DV) for this mineral. Eight ounces of low-fat and fat-free plain yogurt contains 448 milligrams and 488 milligrams, respectively. You can get somewhat smaller amounts from reduced-fat cheeses and some leafy green vegetables, including turnip greens, bok choy, and curly endive.
You need more than just calcium for good dental health though. You also need a variety of vitamins, including vitamins D, C, and A. Vitamin D is important for your pearly whites because a shortfall leads to bone loss as well as increased inflammation, which is a symptom of gum disease, according to researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The best way to get your D right along with calcium is to drink milk that is fortified with D.
Your body uses vitamin C to make collagen, a tough protein fiber that keeps the gums strong. It’s easy to get enough C in your diet. A half-cup serving of cooked broccoli, for example, has 58 milligrams of vitamin C, almost 97 percent of the DV. A half-cup serving of cantaloupe has 34 milligrams, or 57 percent of the DV, and a medium-size navel orange has 80 milligrams, or 133 percent of the DV.
Vitamin A is used to form dentin, a layer of bonelike material just beneath the surface of the teeth. The best way to get vitamin A is by eating foods high in beta-carotene, which is converted to vitamin A in the body. Sweet potatoes are a great source, with a half-cup providing over 21,000 IU of vitamin A, or more than four times the DV. Other good sources of beta-carotene include kale, carrots, and most of the yellow-orange winter squashes. (Despite its hue, acorn squash is a beta-carotene lightweight, with only 0.2 milligram in a half-cup.)
As noted above, while some foods help keep the insides of the teeth healthy, others aren’t so good for the outside. Because sugary foods make it possible for large amounts of bacteria to flourish in the mouth, over time the bacteria and the acids they produce act almost like little dental drills, wearing away the surface of the teeth and allowing cavities to form, says Dr. Kuttler.
Even fruit juices, which many people drink as a healthful alternative to sodas, can be a problem. “Juice is a very concentrated source of sugar,” Dr. Kuttler explains. In fact, researchers in Switzerland found that grapefruit and apple juices did slightly more damage to the teeth than cola did.
While sweet foods can be a problem, sticky foods are even worse, Dr. Kuttler says. The reason for this is that because such foods stick to the teeth, they make it easy for bacteria to remain in the mouth for long periods of time.
Ironically, one food that’s known for its stickiness might actually be good for your teeth. Researchers at the University of Chicago discovered in lab studies that oleanolic acid, a compound raisins are high in, prevented plaque-causing bacteria from sticking to surfaces.
The best way to deal with sticky snacks, if you must eat them, is to take a minute to brush your teeth after eating snacks or having a sweet drink. Even if you can’t brush, simply rinsing out your mouth with water will help remove sugars before the bacteria have time to do damage.
It’s not only what you eat but how you eat that plays a role in keeping teeth strong. Your mouth naturally produces saliva every time you chew, so the more you chew—during a meal, for example, or while chewing gum—the more saliva there is to wash away sugars from the teeth, says Dr. Kuttler. As a bonus, saliva also contains calcium and phosphorus, which help neutralize tooth-damaging acids that form in the mouth after eating.
Rinse your mouth with some black tea. Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry found that people who rinsed their mouths with tea several times a day had less plaque buildup than people who swished with water. Drinking the tea, instead of just swishing it around, can help, too. Experts think it’s the polyphenols in tea that do the trick.
While you’re at the dinner table, you may want to consider having a little cheese. Researchers aren’t sure why, but eating cheese appears to play a role in preventing tooth decay. It may be that cheese contains compounds that neutralize acids in the mouth before they do damage, Dr. Kuttler says. In other words, while eating sweets causes the pH level of your saliva to drop, transforming plaque into tooth-dissolving acid, eating cheese helps the pH stay steady. Which cheese to choose? Researchers reviewed a number of studies and found that among 12 cheeses, Cheddar offers the best tooth protection.