Look after your teeth by eating the right foods
Looking after your smile isn’t just about regular tooth-brushing and trips to the dentist. Incorporate these smile-saving foods into your diet and you can reduce tooth decay, and cut down on unsightly cold sores and mouth ulcers, too.
Dairy foods
For children, whose teeth are still growing, calcium is vital. Avoid tooth decay by giving them milk rather than acidic, sugar-laden teeth-eroding cordials. Make sure they get plenty of magnesium-rich foods, too, which help calcium absorption, including wholefoods, cereals, vegetables and fruit. While adults cannot alter their teeth by increasing their calcium intake, dairy remains a tooth-friendly option. Eating hard cheese – which is slightly alkaline – after every meal helps neutralise any plaque acids that could harm your teeth.
Meat, eggs and nuts
Like cheese, these also neutralise plaque acids – helpful when eaten after carbohydrates or sugary foods.
Fluoride-rich foods
Fluoride-fortified toothpaste has been widely available since the 1970s, and has accounted for a 40-50 per cent drop in dental decay, because it strengthens teeth however old you are. The level of fluoride in the water supply differs around the UK, but you can find out how rich your water is from your local water board. Eating fluoride-rich foods including fish and tea will help shield your smile.
Herbs and salads
Try mint tea instead of tea or coffee – there’s no need to sweeten it with tooth-eroding sugar, plus it can help relieve mild digestive problems that can lead to bad breath. Bitter herbs and leaves such as rocket, cress and chicory trigger the correct production of digestive enzymes in the gut, ensuring thorough digestion and reducing nasty whiffs and belching. Parsley, already known as a breath freshener, is also excellent for numbing mild toothache.
Xylitol
This is a natural, chemical-free sweetener that looks and tastes just like sugar. It guards against tooth decay because it helps to stop plaque forming on the teeth. It is also low GI, meaning that it doesn’t raise blood-sugar levels sharply.
Iron-rich foods
Eating a diet containing adequate iron appears to reduce cracked tongues, lips and mild mouth ulcers. Find iron in red meat, fish, dark-green vegetables and pulses.
Liquorice
Used in Chinese medicine for a range of disorders, recent studies show that liquorice is an effective herb in the treatment of mouth (and stomach) ulcers. But Liquorice Allsorts won’t do the trick; instead buy some natural liquorice from a healthfood shop.
Avoid the following:
Fizzy, soft, sweet drinks
These are bad news on two levels. Firstly, the sugar feeds dental bacteria and encourages plaque formation, acid production and dental decay. Secondly, the acidic nature of these drinks promotes erosion of tooth enamel. Diet drinks are almost as guilty – although they’re sugar-free, they’re still highly acidic.
Fruit juices
Although healthier than fizzy drinks, fruit juices aren’t problem-free as they are also acidic and sugary. Get your kids to use a straw for sweet drinks so that contact with their teeth is reduced.
Dried fruit
Although dried fruits are better nutritionally they still contain sugar plus they tend to stick to the teeth, which can cause decay.
Sweets
If you can’t resist sweets it’s better to have several sweets at once, rather than one every now and then, and to always eat them after a meal.
Red wine
Despite claims that the polyphenols red wine contains can help prevent gum disease and tooth loss, its acidic content can cause dental erosion, and after a glass or two it stains the teeth.
Arginine
This is an amino acid found in chocolate, nuts, some cereals, mushrooms, tomatoes and peppers and is known to feed the cold-sore virus. If you’re prone to these, reducing these foods may help.