Feed Your Smile: A Menu of Foods for a Healthy Smile
Most of us know that brushing, flossing, and regular dentist visits contribute to good oral health.
But did you know that a healthy diet can keep your teeth strong and help reduce decay? And, that a diet—containing milk, cheese, cranberry juice, tea, and to name a few other foodstuffs—may actually benefit your teeth?
The answer is yes. The difference between a healthy smile and frequent visits to the dentist has a lot to do with your diet. Experts often suggest avoiding a high sugar diet for preventing cavities, but certain foods or food components are a recipe for good oral health. according to Dr. Christine D. Wu, professor, pediatric dentistry at the University of Illinois Chicago College of Dentistry.
It's important to know that oral diseases are the most widespread noncommunicable disease in the world. More than 90% of adults over the age of 20 have experienced one cavity in their lifetime. Up to 47% of adults 30 and older have some type of gum disease, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That number jumps to 70% of people 60 and older!
As a previous consultant to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and a grant reviewer for the National Institutes of Health, Wu has done extensive pioneering research on functional foods—foods or components that have benefits in addition to their traditional nutrition values, especially on how they may have protective effects in reducing caries risk.
Her own curiosity about remedies from traditional medicine and herbal medicines used thousands of years ago sparked her interest in researching natural agents that interfere or prevent dental plaque, a complex bacterial community on the tooth surface contributing to tooth decay. Dental plaque bacteria ferments sugars and produce acids which leads to cavities.
For more than two decades, Wu’s team at UIC has focused on the exploration and identification of plant-derived anti-plaque and anti-plaque biofilm compounds against oral pathogens. Trained as an oral microbiologist, she has assembled a multi-disciplinary group of researchers including microbiologists, biochemists, natural product chemists and dental clinicians.
Some of their key discoveries that might surprise you were tea, with its preventive effect on bad breath and bacteria growth; berries and cranberry juice and their anti-plaque bacteria properties; and dairy products like milk and cheese, which contain proteins and calcium phosphate, essential for building and maintaining tooth enamel.
In recent years, Wu’s laboratory has also been engaged in clinical and translational studies to evaluate the oral health benefits of specific foods and beverages, especially dietary plant polyphenols (e.g., tea catechins and cranberry proanthocyanidins). She is an advocate of and promotes functional foods and beverages for oral health.
Foods and beverages for healthy teeth and gums
Dairy Products
Milk, cheese, and yogurt are great options for strong teeth. These foods contain calcium phosphate, proteins and minerals which are essential to building and strengthening tooth enamel. As an added benefit, dairy products often contain beneficial probiotics and encourage salivation, which cleanses and protects teeth. Be careful to avoid options with high amounts of added sugar.
- Milk, with a pH ranging from 6.4 to 6.7, may be considered a functional food in addition to its nutrition values. It helps fight cavities by promoting tooth remineralization and inhibiting the growth of cavity causing bacteria , Wu said.
- Wu’s research has shown that drinking milk or chewing cheese after sugary snacks reduces dental plaque acid levels and may help prevent damage to tooth enamel that leads to cavities.
Cranberries (juice or dried berries)
Cranberries are also rich in polyphenols and provide antioxidant benefits. Cranberry has been well-documented as a popular remedy for the self-treatment of urinary tract infections. Additional studies have suggested that this effect may show promise in other parts of the body including the GI track and the oral cavity. Wu’s lab has performed extensive research on cranberry and has shown that its polyphenols (proanthocyanidins) inhibited growth of dental plaque and saliva bacteria associated with caries and periodontal disease, especially the formation of dental plaque. Addition of sugar did not seem to affect its activity. In human studies, Wu’s team has recently reported that beverages such as 100% pure cranberry juice and cranberry cocktails inhibited dental plaque growth and integrity. Chewing dried cranberries (Craisins) was superior to eating banana chips or candies in reducing bacteria in the saliva.
Tea (Camellia sinensis, the tea plant)
Tea is the most popular beverage next to water. It is well-known that tea-drinking populations have less cavities. Researchers have found that tea polyphenols suppress oral bacteria that cause cavities and gum disease. “When compared with water, rinsing with black tea significantly reduced the accumulation and acid production of plaque bacteria. Tea polyphenols also interfered with the production of volatile sulfur-containing compounds that cause bad breath,” said Wu.
Honey
Rich in flavonoids, phenolic acids and antioxidant. Its sweetness is contributed by glucose and not the table sugar sucrose. The latter is utilized by plaque bacteria to produce acid. Wu’s lab has studied more than 40 varieties of American honeys and found that most of them contain compounds that affect pathogenic oral bacteria. Other reports have shown that honey may reduce dentin hypersensitivity and permeability; promote oral wound healing and reduce pain.
Fruits and Veggies
It’s a fact that vitamin C is good for the body because of its antioxidant properties for growth and repair of tissues in all parts of the body. It’s also true for teeth. The collagen in the dentin of teeth depends on vitamin C for maintaining strength and structure. Strawberries are packed with vitamin C, as are other fresh fruits and vegetables such as apples, pears, pineapples, tomatoes, broccoli, bell peppers and cucumbers.
Certain green leafy vegetables such as kale, spinach and others such as beets or radishes contain high amount of nitrate which can only be metabolized by oral bacteria to nitrite. The nitrites produced in the mouth get to the human gut and be further changed into nitric oxide, when circulated in the blood will help reduce blood pressure thus benefit cardiovascular health.
Sweet Potatoes
Sweet potatoes pack a healthy of vitamin A, which helps maintain the mucous membranes and soft tissue of the gums. The vitamin also is vital in maintaining the protein keratin, an agent that promotes formation of tooth enamel.
Timing is important
A diet that promotes good oral health is not just about the foods you eat or avoid. When and how you eat them do make a difference. One way to protect your health is by eating raw foods at the end of meals. Such foods help clean teeth and massage gums and generate more saliva to wash away extra food particles left after a meal.
According to Wu, “Food sequencing, or the order in which you consume food and beverages, is important and may help to prevent tooth decay. Try eating acid neutralizing foods after a sweet meal or dessert will prevent prolonged acid attacks to your teeth and therefore help prevent cavities. The best examples are milk, unsweetened or cheese.”