Keeping your smile healthy and strong is just as vital to your self-image as having a healthy body. Today, our Central Oregon Dental Center team in Bend, Oregon is pleased to offer you easy ways to maintain healthy teeth and gums. Let’s take a look!
Are your daily foods helping or harming your smile?
To give your teeth (and gums) the nutrition they need, we encourage eating water and fiber-rich fruits and vegetables daily. These serve to balance harmful sugars and clear oral acids and food particles off your teeth by encouraging healthy saliva levels. Saliva also neutralizes acids. Next on your list, are proteins and dairy. Lean meat, fish, eggs, and beans also offer phosphorous, and low-fat dairy–yogurt, cheese, and milk–give you calcium as well as protein for healthy teeth and gums.
Are your drinks helping or harming your smile?
Sugary sodas and sports drinks consumed regularly take their toll on your pearly whites. A better choice is drinking plenty of water (especially if it is fluoridated), which supports strong tooth enamel while clearing off cavity-causing oral debris. Consistent hydration also maintains your saliva production, which maintains teeth and gums and prevents dry mouth.
Are your snacks helping or harming your smile?
If your snacks are mostly sugar filled or starchy (think cookies or chips). your teeth may suffer. These mainly feed the cavity-causing bacteria that inhabit your mouth. Enlist your snacks to help your smile by sticking to cheese, yogurt, nuts, fruits, and vegetables in between meals. Chewing sugarless gum between meals can also satisfy your chewing needs while stimulating saliva production.
To keep your smile healthy, we invite you to schedule a professional cleaning and checkup with our dentist by calling 541-389-0300 today. Dr. Michael Hall and our team look forward to assisting you with all your oral care needs in Bend, Oregon.
