Good nutrition is vital not only for body health but also for oral and dental health. When it comes to dental and oral health issues, the adage "you are what you eat" is particularly true. The nutrients that make up your daily diet directly impact your dental and oral health. That is why educating yourself about healthy foods to incorporate into your diet for healthy teeth and gums is crucial.

Every person has a responsibility to keep his/her teeth and mouth healthy. While regularly brushing and flossing and visiting your dentist are helpful and thoughtful dental care practices, carefully choosing food that you consume daily is also vital in reinforcing these efforts. If you are wondering which foods are the best for healthy teeth and gums, you should consult a dentist.

A seasoned dentist can assess your lifestyle and preferences to offer tips on what to incorporate into your diet for healthy teeth and gums.

A Look at Cavities and Gum Disease

Cavities and gum disease are common dental and oral health problems many experience at one point in their lives, but they are preventable. Also known as dental caries, cavities are tiny holes or decayed parts of your tooth. While poor oral and dental hygiene can cause cavities, what you eat daily can also increase your risk of cavities, particularly sugary foods.

Sugary foods are favorites for harmful bacteria in your mouth that excrete acidic substances that cause tooth enamel erosion. When left unchecked, a tooth cavity could compromise the inner and nervous part of your tooth (pulp chamber), necessitating extensive treatment, like root canal therapy or tooth extraction, if the tooth roots are too weak to hold it in place.

Gum disease is another common oral health issue you can develop due to poor oral hygiene and bad nutritional choices. Gum disease is an infection of the soft tissues that hold your teeth in place. Specifically, this oral health issue develops when plaque buildup (a sticky film of bacteria) on your teeth and below your gumline is left unchecked, leading to inflammation of your gums.

Various Types of Nutrients You Need for Healthy Gums and Gums

Before we discuss the ideal foods for healthy gums and teeth, you could ask yourself what nutrients your body needs for healthy teeth. Here is an overview of specific nutrients you should ensure are abundant in your diet for healthy teeth and gums:

Phosphorus and calcium

Your teeth need foods rich in phosphorus and calcium to strengthen your tooth enamel and restore teeth damaged by acidic excretions from the cavity-causing bacteria.

Vitamin D

Vitamin D is an essential nutrient for your general health and strong teeth because it helps your body absorb vital nutrients like calcium, which helps strengthen your bones and teeth.

Vitamin C

Aside from strengthening the body's vessels, vitamin C helps reduce gum inflammation and keep your gums healthy. This vital nutrient also helps your body produce collagen, a crucial protein that helps fight periodontal diseases. Therefore, if your body lacks sufficient vitamin C, your gums will become more susceptible to harmful bacteria due to periodontitis.

Probiotics

Your body has good and bad bacteria, and probiotics are good bacteria your body should have because they help reduce plaque buildup and promote healthy gums.

Antioxidants

Antioxidants are also vital nutrients that help improve your dental and oral health. These nutrients help inhibit and fight bacteria that cause periodontitis. Antioxidants also help protect your gums and mouth tissues from bacterial attack.

Arginine, Polyphenols, Anthocyanins

Arginine, polyphenols, and anthocyanins are vital for dental and oral health. While there is not adequate research on the effects of these elements on dental and oral health, there is strong evidence that they could be a friend to your teeth and gums. In addition to helping prevent plaque attachment on the surface of your teeth, anthocyanins can help prevent oral cancer.

Polyphenols can help slow harmful bacteria growth in your mouth, keeping cavities and gum disease issues at bay.

Specific Foods You Should Incorporate into Your Diet for Healthy Gums and Teeth

Now that you know the nutrients ideal for your teeth and gums' health, you should learn which foods are rich in these vital nutrients. The specific foods you should incorporate into your diet for healthy gums and teeth include the following:

Dairy Products

Dairy products, like milk, cheese, and yogurt, are friends to your dental and gum health for many reasons. For example, cheese is rich in calcium and a special type of protein known as casein that helps prevent the formation of cavities and strengthen your tooth enamel.

Yogurt is another dairy product that can help improve your dental and gum health because it is rich in probiotics that help slow the growth of harmful cavity-causing bacteria. As the main source of yogurt and cheese, drinking milk often can also give your body the vital nutrients it needs for healthy gums and teeth.

Leafy Greens and Other Vegetables

You can eat leafy greens for better dental and gum health, including kale, spinach, lettuce, arugula, collard greens, and chard. All these common vegetables are rich in magnesium, antioxidants, iron, calcium, fiber, folic acid, potassium, and vitamins K, C, and A that your gums and teeth love. Calcium and magnesium help remineralize your teeth, reducing the risk of cavities.

On the other hand, iron is a crucial nutrient that helps maintain the health of your gums. Other vegetables like squash and broccoli also contain a crucial antibacterial compound (lentinan), which helps prevent plaque buildup and lessen harmful bacteria in your mouth.

Fish

Fish is rich in omega-3 oils and vitamins, which are great nutrients for healthy gums and teeth. Consumption of omega-3 helps reduce the risk of periodontal diseases. Conversely, fish oils help protect your dental health and prevent gum diseases. As mentioned above, your body also needs vitamin D to absorb calcium.

Fatty fish like salmon are also rich in phosphorus, which helps remineralize your teeth and fight the inflammation of your gums, which could cause gum disease.

Meat

Meat is rich in several nutrients that help promote gum and dental health. These nutrients include sodium, potassium, calcium, and vitamin D. While meat does not contain casein like milk, meat is rich in vitamin D, which can help strengthen your gums and teeth.

Acidic Fruits

Eating acidic fruits like lemons, oranges, grapes, mangoes, peaches, pineapples, cranberries, and blue plums can benefit your dental health. In addition to being rich in vitamin C, these fruits contain varying acidic levels, which can break stains on your teeth for a brighter smile. As mentioned in the previous paragraph, vitamin C helps strengthen your gums and lessen the chances of developing gum disease.

Nuts

Unless you have certain dental restorations like crowns or veneers, chewing nuts can help improve your dental and gum health because they stimulate saliva production, which helps neutralize acidity in your mouth and wash away food particles. Nuts like almonds are also rich in vitamin D and calcium, which are vital nutrients for healthy teeth and gums.

Crunchy fruits like mangoes and apples also contain water that helps balance the saliva levels in your mouth to prevent dry mouth, which creates an ideal environment for harmful bacteria to thrive.

However, when you decide to indulge in acidic fruits, you should limit their intake because they can cause an accumulation of acids in your mouth, leading to enamel erosion. Drinking plenty of water after eating acidic fruits can also help neutralize their acidity to prevent enamel erosion.

Carrots

While they are technically vegetables, carrots have several dental and gum health benefits. For example, chewing carrots can help prevent plaque buildup on teeth surfaces, keeping cavities and gum disease at bay due to their abrasiveness.

Chewing carrots also help stimulate your salivary glands to produce saliva, which helps clean out food particles lingering in your mouth. Additionally, carrots are rich in helpful nutrients like vitamin A, potassium, Biotin, and vitamin K1, which help promote the health and strength of your gums and teeth.

Water

In addition to keeping you hydrated, water has several other dental and gum health benefits. Listed below are some of the vital benefits of drinking plenty of water:

  • Water helps clean away food residues and particles lingering in your mouth after eating

  • Water helps prevent dry mouth issues, which creates an excellent breeding ground for harmful bacteria

  • Water helps prevent bad breath or halitosis because it washes away the odor-causing bacteria and food particles from your mouth, keeping it fresh

  • Water helps balance your mouth pH levels after consuming acidic fruits and beverages

While technically water is not food, you should drink plenty daily, and your gums and teeth will thank you for it.

Garlic

Most households use garlic to improve the flavor and taste of their food, but not many know its benefits, especially for dental and gum health. The antibacterial property of garlic makes it an excellent food for healthy teeth and gums.

Coffee and Tea

While a cup of tea or coffee helps many people jumpstart their day, this drink can also help improve the health of your gums and teeth. In addition to helping keep saliva in your mouth, these drinks contain a chemical known as polyphenols, which acts as an antioxidant that helps reduce gum inflammation and cell damage and fight oral cancer.

Additionally, tea contains fluoride, a naturally occurring substance that strengthens and remineralizes teeth to reduce the risk of cavities. However, it is important to ensure your daily cup of coffee or tea is sugar-free because sugar is an enemy to your dental health.

Cranberries

Like tea and coffee, cranberries are also rich in polyphenols, which offer antioxidant benefits in your mouth. Fresh cranberries are particularly helpful in preventing plaque formation on the surface of your tooth, reducing the risk of gum disease and cavities.

Sweet Potatoes

Another nutrient-rich food you should consider incorporating into your diet is sweet potatoes. These foods are rich in vitamin A, vital in maintaining your gums’ soft tissues and mucous membranes in your mouth. Vitamin A also helps with keratin, a protein that promotes the healthy formation of your teeth' enamel.

Onions and Garlic

While they can contribute to temporary bad breath, which goes away after brushing your teeth, these foods can help improve your dental and oral health because of their antimicrobial properties, which reduce the risk of gum disease and cavities.

Whole Grains

Although most simple carbohydrates could indeed stick to your teeth after eating and form an ideal environment for bacteria to thrive, whole grains do not do that. Whole wheat pasta or bread, oatmeal, and rice are healthy foods for your teeth because they lack complex carbohydrates, which are the most preferred food for the harmful bacteria in your mouth.

Whole grains can also keep your teeth strong because they require some force when chewing them. Additional whole grains are also rich in minerals and vitamins, which help lessen the risk of gum disease.

Kiwis

Kiwi is a friend to your dental and gum health because these fruits are rich in vitamin C, which helps boost your body's immunity by promoting the production of helpful blood cells that fight off foreign microorganisms. These vital effects strengthen your body's resistance to infections, including tooth decay.

Apples

Like carrots, chewing apples acts as a natural toothbrush because of its abrasiveness, which helps scrape off food particles and plaque on the surface of your teeth. In addition to being rich in water, chewing apples can stimulate your salivary glands to excrete more saliva to wipe away food particles and neutralize your mouth acidity.

Incorporating these foods into your diet can significantly boost your overall health and dental and gum health. To make the most of your routine dental appointments, you should prepare questions to ask your dentist, including the ideal foods you can incorporate into your diet for healthier gums and teeth.

Find a La Puente Dentist Near Me

Incorporating the above-mentioned types of foods into your diet can go a long way in keeping your gums and teeth healthy. You should schedule an appointment with a dentist to learn more about the foods you can eat to boost your dental and gum health.

At La Puente Advanced Dentistry, we would be glad to walk you through this journey to ensure you and your loved ones have healthy teeth and gums throughout your lifetime. We invite you to call us at 626-626-7075 to schedule your first consultation with our credible dentists.