While regular visits to your local dentist along with daily brushing and flossing of your teeth will help to keep your mouth and teeth healthy, there are more enjoyable ways of maintaining good oral health such as eating the right foods. So here are our top 10 foods to help protect your teeth against cavities.
#1. Vegetables. Eating fresh or crunchy vegetables is not only good for your overall health but helps to clean your gums too. Some vegetables are rich in vitamin A that is necessary for the formation of tooth enamel, such as sweet potatoes, broccoli, carrots and pumpkins.
#2. Fresh fruits. Sailors of old were often afflicted by scurvy which resulted from lack of vitamin C which can be found in fresh fruit and notably in kiwis, strawberries and apples. Vitamin C is vital to healthy cells within the body and it can stop your gums breaking down and becoming sore.
#3. Onions. If you can manage it, eating raw onions is especially healthy as onions can kill various types of bacteria because they contain antibacterial sulphur compounds.
#4. Celery. As mentioned above, eating raw vegetables is good for massaging the teeth and gums and also helps to produce saliva which neutralizes the bacteria that can cause cavities in your teeth.
#5. Meat and eggs. While eating too much red meat is obviously not necessarily good for health, meat contains phosphorus which along with calcium is vital to the development of healthy bones and teeth. Animal products such as turkey, chicken, beef and eggs all contain phosphorus and calcium, however see the note later on regarding calcium.
#6. Sesame seeds. As well as being very high in calcium sesame seeds help build tooth enamel and get rid of plaque.
#7. Green tea. Is very effective at protecting your teeth because it not only contain fluorides but also polyphenols which are antioxidant plant compounds that help reduce the chances of cavities and gum disease.
#8. Water. We all know that water is vital to our health and keeps us hydrated but it also keeps our teeth hydrated and washes away particles of food from our teeth. Drinking water also helps in the production of saliva which also deposits essential minerals onto the teeth.
The last two items are slightly more controversial in that they are commonly known as the good source of calcium, which aids healthy teeth and bones. However some scientists believe that these foods actually leach calcium from the body. These are of course dairy products. Why are they needed for calcium when we are the only mammals that drink another milk? Where do cows get their calcium from? The answer of course is from what they eat, which is grass and the equivalent for us is eating green fruits and vegetables. But here they are anyway to complete our top 10.
#9. Cheese. In addition to calcium cheese also contains phosphate and this helps balance the pH within the mouth thus preserving and rebuilding tooth enamel.
#10. Milk and yogurt. While they are a source of calcium they are also beneficial because they have very low acidity and also very little sugar meaning that the teeth do not suffer decay as a result.
