Nutrition

nutrition-imgBesides regular brushing, flossing, and general examinations, there are plenty of ways that you can affect your oral health throughout your daily life. And, while a steady diet of candy and sweets will obviously contribute to tooth decay, damage, and acidic erosion, there are less obvious ways that your diet can holistically impact your oral health, and by extension, your whole-body wellness.

If you are suffering from sleep problems, eating an anti-inflammatory diet—like a Mediterranean diet of fruits, vegetables, grains, and olive oil—can be one way to decrease sleep disturbances. Since inflammation in the gut has been linked to poor sleep, minimizing your dietary sources of inflammation—like meats, dairy, or vegetable oils—though not fully cutting out those essential nutrients, can be important. By pairing one of our sleep services, like snore guards, with a healthy anti-inflammatory diet, many of our patients who struggle with sleep apnea and snoring can keep their sleep disturbances to a minimum.

For patients with periodontal health concerns, anti-inflammatory diets—specifically foods with plenty of vitamin C—can also help combat irritation that is common in gingivitis or periodontitis. Decreasing saturated fats and sugar intake, as well as increasing levels of fiber, fruits, and vegetables can be an important supplementary way to support healthy gums.

Just as healthy diets can boost oral health, disordered eating, like binging or purging, can be severely detrimental, leading both to damage and nutritional deficiencies. Repeated purging can increase acid in the mouth, leading to enamel erosion and compromised health. In addition to disordered eating, diets high in sugars and acids also harm overall tooth health. Enamel-eating bacteria feed on sugary food particles left on teeth, while acidic foods slowly erode enamel. Keeping your sweets and acidic foods to a minimum can be a great help in improving your oral health and hygiene long-term.

If you have questions about maintaining proper nutrition for your oral health and whole-body wellness, call us today to schedule an appointment. We are happy to help you learn how to better care for your health—one meal at a time!

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