It is a fact that what we eat influences oral health. We are able to guess the harmful effects of some food and beverages. For example, many people are aware of the detrimental effect of drinking coke, due to its acidic impact. OK, but what other foods are detrimental to our teeth? Should we not consume the harmful foods in order to keep our teeth in good shape or is there another way to eliminate the harmful impact?Here are the good and bad foods for our teeth and here is what we can do:

Most of us are aware of the detrimental impact of cola and likewise, you may be able to guess the harmful effects of sugar, chocolate, and carbohydrate rich nutrition (eg. rice, pasta and bread). But why do they cause caries?The answer is in fact simple: Anything that can turn into acids in our mouths may cause caries. We sometimes get that acid directly from the food (eg cola).Other times, it is the bacteria in our mouth that consume glucose (because they like it so much) and form the acid (eg. sugar, chocolate, bread and pasta). You can think of this acid as their excrement.

But should we not at all consume chocolate, bread or cola that we like so much? Shall we just go ahead and die, is that what you want? 😊The answer to that is no. All we have to do is to break the cycle explained above.The only way to break that cycle is mechanical cleaning, ie. by brushing the teeth.What if you are not at home, or do not have a toothbrush with you or for some reason, you are not able to brush our teeth at that moment? Then drink a lot of water!Rinsing your mouth off at least withwater will decrease caries formation. Even a tiny bit of bread stuck in our mouth is enough to cause the formation of billions of bacteria.Using the rinsing effect of water will not be as effective as actually brushing the teeth, but still,getting rid of most of these remnants, will still be useful for our oral hygiene.

Consume high fibre food!

High fibre foods, such as cereals, some fruits (dried plums, pears, citrus fruits),legume (beans, chickpeas) are rich in fiber.High fibre foods indirectly prevent tooth decay because they increase saliva secretion. Thanks to the bacteriostatic substancesin the saliva which help fight against bacteria, increase in saliva is to our benefit.  Similarly,caffeinated foods (like tea and coffee) decrease saliva secretion and cause driness in the mouth. This is why such foods increase the likelihood of tooth decay.

Eat cheese!

Cheese is an ideal food for our oral PH balance. What does that mean? It means that cheese is able to provide a balance against the acidic impact that causes caries.Cheese is a basic acid, so when it encounters acid, then it neutralizes the environmentand acts like a shield which removes the acid impact.

Don’t consume ready to drink fruit juices!

Everyone knows that cola is acidic. But did you know that fruit juices also have a PH value of 2.5? Fruit juices are as acidic as cola, contain as much sugarand they are also difficult to rinse off. These factorssignificantly increase the impact of juice on tooth decay. Saying “coke is hamful, so I’ll buy a juice,” or “let me put a juice in my kid’s lunchbox” in fact brings you one step closer to tooth decay.

Eat fruits!

Most of the fruits are acidic, but still because they are fibrous, in fact they are good for you.Vitamins in fruits are good for your gums andif you eat hard fruits like apples by biting them, then it will create a brushing impact in the mouth and mechanically clean particularly the front teeth.

Dt. Dilara ELMACI