If you want to keep your teeth healthy for a lifetime, you should not only pay attention to proper dental care but also eat healthy food. This does not mean only avoiding sweets and therefore tooth decay. It is just as important to pay attention to the ingredients in the rest of the food.
Why is a healthy diet so important?
A tooth-healthy diet is essential because the wrong foods can promote tooth decay. Sugar in food supplies the bacteria in plaque with vital energy. The bacteria convert sugars into acids. As a result, these acids decalcify or demineralize the tooth enamel. The tooth enamel becomes increasingly porous over time, allowing microorganisms to penetrate the tooth and destroy it from within.
An occasional acid attack is not a problem for tooth enamel. Your saliva is enriched with minerals that re-harden or re-mineralize tooth enamel. The situation is different if this happens too often because those affected do not pay attention to a tooth-healthy diet. In this case, the saliva fails to remineralize the enamel.
Which foods are good for your teeth?
A varied and wholesome diet with lots of fruit, vegetables and whole-grain products is not only good for general health, but also for your teeth. Give preference to fresh food. They contain valuable vitamins and minerals that strengthen tooth enamel.
For packaged foods and ready meals, it is worth taking a look at the list of ingredients to avoid sugar, among other things.
Which fruit is good for your teeth?
Crunchy fruits such as apples and pears can complement a healthy diet. In addition to plenty of vitamins and roughage, they provide important minerals for the tooth enamel, massage the gums when chewed thoroughly and stimulate the flow of saliva. Vitamin C in kiwis, lemons and other citrus fruits can also strengthen the collagen structure of the gums.
Which fruit is bad for your teeth? The acids also contained in fruits and fruit juices are a problem. They loosen minerals such as calcium and phosphate from the tooth surface and can attack the enamel and dentin. It is therefore important not to spread the consumption of healthy acidic food over many small meals, but rather to limit it to once a day.
It is possible to partially neutralize the acids with other foods. Dairy products are a good choice. Combine the citrus fruits with yoghurt, for example.