How Your Diet Can Affect Your Teeth

There’s a good reason why the saying “you are what you eat” has risen to prominence: diet can have a much bigger effect on the human body than we can realise. However, one of the advantages of this is that changing your diet can be a wonderfully straightforward way of dramatically changing your wellbeing for the better. That extends to the quality of your teeth, as we will explain further…

Keep your diet in balance

You probably won’t be surprised that the NHS advises you to stick to a balanced diet. However, the extent to which a balanced diet can keep your teeth in good condition may startle you. The NHS defines a balanced diet as consisting of lots of fruit and vegetables, plus starchy foods like rice, bread, pasta and potatoes – though, where possible, opt for wholegrain versions of these foods and keep the skin on potatoes. You are also recommended to tuck into protein-rich foods like fish, meat, beans or eggs.

Sugar: a major cause of tooth decay

An effective way of keeping tooth decay at bay is minimising the amount of sugar in your diet. There are lots of different foods that can contain inconveniently high amounts of sugar; those listed by the NHS include sweets, chocolate, biscuits, sugary drinks, fruit juice, pastries, sponge puddings, sugary breakfast cereals, jams, honey, ice cream, dried fruit and syrups.

All of these foods can pose the problem of causing tooth decay, especially if they are eaten between meals. Tooth decay is less likely to be triggered by the sugars that are naturally found in whole fruit, as those sugars are contained within the fruit’s structure. However, an exception would apply were you to juice or blend this fruit, as doing so would release the sugars, which could then damage the teeth. Some sugars can also be released from fruit when it is dried. Therefore, stick to fresh fruit when you can.

Alcohol: another danger to your teeth

If you enjoy the occasional tipple, be warned that alcohol consumption can lead to erosion of your teeth’s outer surface and, as a result, to loss of your enamel. Should this occur, a visit to your dentist for a filing might be necessary. While, here at BF Mulholland, we are happy to provide various products that can help dentists to carry out filings, it’s worth emphasising that prevention is better than cure. We want you to watch your diet to lower your chances of having to arrange for that filing!

Avoid the pain of a stain

It’d be a shame if your otherwise lovely smile was ruined by the exposure of stained teeth, which can often be caused by the consumption of wine, coffee and tea. Therefore, try to limit how much of these beverages you drink. Still, if your teeth are already stained, your dentist could administer a professional clean to those teeth. This may assist in reducing the visibility of the staining.