Eat This, Not That: 4 Foods to Strengthen Teeth and 4 You’ll Hate to Drop

What if we told you it’s possible to eat your way to strong teeth? Keep reading to see what foods strengthen teeth and which delicious ones you’ll have to quit.

“Going to the dentist is my favorite way to start the day.”

 

Said no one ever.

If you’re like most sane people, going to the dentist is something you probably try to avoid at all costs –  aside from preventive maintenance, of course. No one wants to have cavities or gum disease. No one wants fillings, crowns, or root canals.

The good news is, there are lots of ways to protect your teeth and avoid those early morning dental disasters. Aside from the usual brushing and flossing, you can monitor the foods that you’re eating. We’ve put together a list of four foods to strengthen teeth and four foods that will destroy your teeth.

Keep reading to learn about which foods are the good, the bad, and the ugly.

 

4 Foods to Strengthen Teeth

Let’s kick things off with the good.

These four foods will help bring nutrients to your teeth, as well as help you brush away some of the gunk for the day.

 

Cheese

For a lot of families, cheese is the glue that holds dinner time together. Cheese is the Holy Grail for kids, college students, grandparents, and everyone in between.

As if you needed another reason to fall in love with this stringing, gooey goodness, the American Academy of General Dentistry ran a study that suggested cheese is vital for your oral health. Aside from the added benefits of high doses of calcium, the cheese will lower the pH in your mouth and help reduce the risk of tooth decay.

 

Apples

They say that an apple a day keeps the doctor away, but who knew that included the dentist?

Biting into a juicy, crispy apple is a great snack no matter what time it is. Aside from all of the nutrients you’re getting, apples actually work really well to clean your teeth and scrape away any built-up grime from earlier in the day.

You should definitely keep brushing and flossing, but apples will help reinforce good oral care. Apples can even help start the process of reverse periodontitis.

 

Almonds

Nuts are a great snack to eat with your apples, especially almonds. Almonds are high in protein and calcium without being high in sugar.

Fix yourself a nice platter with various cheeses, apple slices, and a quarter cup of almonds to make a tasty, healthy snack.

 

Leafy Greens

Spinach, kale, mustard greens, turnip greens, these are the foods that you should be eating every day.

Leafy greens find their way onto every healthy food list. They are packed full of essential nutrients like vitamins A, D, C, iron, calcium, and everything else we need for healthy living.

 

4 Foods to Dissolve Teeth

Now that you know what you should be eating, let’s tackle the foods that you really don’t want to stop eating, but really should.

 

Here are the bad and the ugly:

Coffee

“Don’t even talk to me until I’ve had my Folgers.“

If this sounds like you, you might want to keep an eye on your coffee intake. Coffee is notoriously bad for your oral health because not only does the coffee stain your teeth, but the caffeine will eat away at your enamel.

Lifehack: if you’re not ready to give up your coffee, get yourself an eco-friendly, reusable straw. Straws help these tasty beverages to bypass your teeth and go straight down to your impatiently waiting tummy.

 

Alcohol

After a long day at work it’s easy to want to crack open a cold one or pour a strong one – but, did you know that alcohol is pretty much completely sugar?

It doesn’t take long and your body turns alcohol into a sweet, gooey syrup. Until you brush your teeth, that gooey syrup is going to soak on your enamel and slowly eat at it.

 

Soda

Yes, soda is also full of sugar. But we’re going to focus on the acidic problems that soda brings to your teeth.

When you drink soda, the sugars in it will react with certain bacteria in your mouth to form acid. This acid, along with other acids in soda, will start to dissolve your enamel and cause some hefty cavities.

Any type of acid, whether it be from soda or citrus, will take no time to start breaking down your pearly whites.

 

Sweets

Suites, in general, are bad for you, and they do nothing good for your oral health. 

Sugar is one of the number one ways to guarantee rotting teeth and dental visits. Now, we’re not suggesting you should give up the sugar completely – that would be blasphemy. We are however saying that you should be aware of sugary foods and cautiously brush your teeth shortly after.

 

Your Teeth Have to Last You a Lifetime – Take Care of Them

Aside from the teeth we willingly give to the Tooth Fairy, the set of teeth that you have now will need to last you a lifetime. It’s important that you take care of them from top to bottom.

Not only will you give yourself credit later down the line for your efforts, but you also find yourself appreciating the thousands of dollars you saved in dental care over the years.

So, keep eating foods to strengthen teeth and ditch the foods that are dissolving your teeth –  or at least drink your coffee through a straw.

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