You are what you eat or at least your teeth are!
What you eat can help fend off plaque, periodontal disease and gingivitis. You can keep your gums healthy and your teeth strong with fortifying foods, like those listed below.
Cheese:
According to a study by the American General Dentistry, cheese actually protects your teeth from the acid erosion caused by tea, coffee, wine, soda, and other sugary foods and beverages.
Your mouth naturally has a slightly acidic (low) pH, and when you eat or drink things that drive that pH level even lower, your tooth enamel suffers.
While saliva acts as a neutralizing agent and restores pH levels in the mouth after you eat, some foods actually assist in the pH-boosting process.
Cheese, especially Cheddar cheese, elevates your oral pH for 30 minutes after eating. And the calcium and phosphorous found in cheese is healthy for your teeth – it helps re-mineralizes (harden) the enamel.
Water:
Turns out that your teeth actually benefit from water.
Water helps wash away food debris and keeps your saliva levels high.
Believe it or not, saliva is actually your mouth’s best defense against tooth decay because it contains proteins and minerals that counteract enamel–eating acids.
And saliva is made up of 95 percent water, so if you want to avoid unnecessary cavities, stay hydrated.
Oranges:
This may come as a surprise, but citrus fruits like oranges help keep your gums healthy by strengthening blood vessels and the connective tissue that holds your teeth in your jaw.
It’s the vitamin C that’s so powerful.
Vitamin C also helps reduce inflammation, which may prevent or slow the progression of gingivitis.
Keep your teeth – make oranges, grapefruits, and other citrus regular features in your fruit bowl!
Like oranges and other citrus fruits, strawberries are brimming with gum–building vitamin C.
Vitamin C is required for production of collagen, a key protein that maintains your gums’ strength and integrity — and strong gums are an integral part of your oral health.
Just a half a cup of fresh strawberries delivers more than 70 percent of the daily value for vitamin C!
Wild Salmon:
Fatty fish like salmon and Atlantic mackerel are good food sources of vitamin D.
Vitamin D is critical for oral health since it allows your body to absorb and use calcium, a nutrient that protects your teeth and gums from disease.
The vitamin D found in salmon makes it easier for your teeth and bones to get the full power of calcium from the foods you’re eating.