Education | Your Diet

Oral Health and Your Diet

Your diet can effect the health of your teeth. The population is consuming an increasing amount of sugar-filled sodas, sweetened fruit drinks and other non-nutritious snacks that have no nutritional content and negatively affect their teeth. The eating habits established as children and young adults play a large roll in how quickly young children may develop tooth decay.

To better understand how the food you eat effects your oral health, you need to better understand how the bacteria in your mouth behave. When bacteria come into contact with sugar in the mouth, acid is produced. This acid attacks the teeth for 20 minutes or more and can lead to tooth decay. The biggest mistake many people make is sipping on a soda, or other sugar filled beverage over an extended period of time. This creates a constant supply of sugar for the bacteria rather than a short window if you were to drink the beverage in one sitting.

It is important to be aware of what you are consuming, not just for your oral health but for your over-all health. Almost all foods, including milk, breads, fruits and vegetables, have some type of sugar, however they should not be removed from your diet. These foods contribute important nutritional content. Foods that contain large amounts of sugar but provide no nutritional value should be limited or removed from your diet. Because all foods continue some quantity of sugar, it is suggested to brush after every meal.

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