Nutrition

Good nutrition plays a large role in your dental health. Brushing and flossing help keep your teeth and gums healthy and strong. However, a balanced diet will help to boost your body’s immune system, leaving you less vulnerable to oral disease.

How often and what you eat have been found to affect your dental health. Eating starchy foods such as crackers, bread, cookies, and candy causes the bacteria in your mouth to feed on the enamel of your teeth.  The bacteria then produce acids, which attack your teeth for up to 20 minutes or more. Foods that stick to your teeth or that are slow to dissolve give the acids more time to work on destroying tooth enamel.

Starchy Foods

Crackers
Breads
Cookies
Candy

Sticky/slow to dissolve foods

Granola bars
Chewy fruit snacks
Dried fruit
Hard candy

Sticky and starchy foods create less acid when eaten as part of a meal. Saliva production increases at mealtime, rinsing away food particles, and neutralizing harmful acids.

Foods such as nuts, cheese, onions, and some teas have been shown to slow growth of decay causing bacteria in the mouth.