15.09.2016
Author: Dentist-therapist Kuzub Yana Nikolaevna
To keep teeth healthy, both the general condition of the body, good hygiene, timely treatment, and the foods that the patient eats daily are important. Dentist-therapist at the Attribute Clinic, Yana Nikolaevna Kuzub, shares useful information about what foods and drinks are healthy, and what you should avoid to maintain a healthy smile.
WATER
Since the human body consists of more than half of water, it is logical to conclude that water is an important product for our body. Water is also good for dental health.
If you drink little water during the day (precisely water. Juices, soda, tea, coffee, soups do not count), among other negative consequences, you will experience a feeling of dry mouth. This means that not enough saliva is produced: a logical consequence of dehydration, because saliva is 98.5% water.
The composition of saliva includes mucins (no more than 0.5% of the total chemical composition of saliva). Due to them, saliva not only has viscosity and elasticity, but also prevents the formation of bacterial plaque, because blocks the proliferation of harmful microorganisms.
However, you need to know that saliva can harm your teeth if you like sweets. In this case, it will contain large amounts of glucose, as a result of which it will only harm tooth enamel.
In addition to the fact that the possibility of salivation that protects teeth depends on water, water helps to mechanically clean the oral cavity of food debris, plaque and acids harmful to tooth enamel.
VEGETABLES, FRUITS, BERRIES, GREENS
Everyone knows that vegetables, unsweetened fruits and greens should be an important part of every person’s diet in order to maintain the balance of vitamins, minerals and other beneficial microelements in the body.
However, fresh vegetables, fruits and herbs are important for dental health, as they provide essential vitamins and minerals.
It is important to focus your diet on carrots as a source of keratin, pumpkin, which can restore white teeth due to the selenium it contains, and greens, especially spinach, which is rich in calcium.
Vegetables and greens enrich saliva with minerals that are beneficial to the health of tooth enamel (phosphate, fluoride, calcium).
It is important to understand that minerals are “leached” from teeth over time. Therefore, for the health of your teeth enamel, you must remember to eat fresh vegetables, herbs and unsweetened fruits.
Don't forget to take care of your gum health. Hard varieties of vegetables and fruits will help with this. Chewing solid food has a massage effect on the gums, thereby improving blood circulation in the mouth.
Greens will help take care of healthy oral microflora (parsley is especially good for this task), because contains antibacterial substances that can stop inflammatory processes, get rid of bad breath, and prevent caries.
Useful herbs for teeth and gums
Every woman dreams of strong, beautiful teeth (okay, let’s be honest, every person!). Smiling at your loved ones, saying kind words to your loved ones - what could be more pleasant? But there are a number of problems that can extinguish even the sweetest smile. These include bad breath, inflammation and bleeding of the gums, painful reaction of the teeth to cold, sour, and sweet foods. And with age, the gums weaken, and the teeth can become completely crooked!
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In order to maintain a charming smile, we recommend that you resort to the help of traditional medicine. Effective recipes have come to us from those times when there were no toothpastes and dentists. They will help you too! Don't know what herbs you can use for teeth and gums? We'll tell you.
From an unpleasant odor
Do you know what causes bad breath? The culprits of unpleasant odor are microorganisms that multiply in the mouth and digestive system. This problem is especially aggravated by caries. Plants that contain tannins and phenols, which suppress the vital activity of organisms, will help cope with the smell. Are you wondering what kind of herbs these are? Here is the list:
- Burdock root disinfects gums, removes putrid odor and yellow plaque from the surface of teeth.
- Oak bark has long been used as an antimicrobial agent. It eliminates unpleasant odor, heals minor gum damage, and reduces toothache. Effective for periodontitis.
- Sage inhibits bacterial growth.
- Nettle treats stomach ailments that may cause bad breath.
For inflammation and bleeding gums
Many people, noticing blood while brushing their teeth, simply do not pay attention to it. But in vain, because this is the first sign of gingivitis and periodontitis. Don't want your teeth to fall out prematurely? Then use herbs for gum inflammation!
Here is a list of the best plants that are used to relieve irritation, reduce bleeding and strengthen gums:
- Aloe has a strong astringent effect, increases blood clotting, and quickly eliminates bleeding. The plant juice is best used diluted due to its acidic reaction.
- Celandine fights gum swelling, traumatic lesions, and is effective against periodontal disease.
- Desiccant reduces bleeding and triggers regeneration of the oral mucosa during stomatitis.
- Strawberries strengthen gums. Berries and infusions of leaves prevent periodontal disease and scurvy, a sign of which is loose teeth.
- Stevia leaves quickly relieve inflammation in the oral cavity and soothe gums. The plant has a hemostatic and antibacterial effect.
Interesting fact
Stevia is not only an herb for rinsing gums, it can be added to teas instead of sugar. It tastes sweet, but does not cause tooth decay.
For toothache
Toothache occurs due to inflammation of the nerve, but many people experience pain when eating hot or cold foods. But there are also people whose teeth react to sweet and sour foods. Are you having the same problem? This means we need to double our care of tooth enamel! Medicinal plants from the following list will help strengthen it and relieve pain:
- Snakehead has an analgesic effect and strengthens teeth.
- Garlic prevents tooth decay from developing.
- Melissa will help get rid of toothache and is effective for stomatitis.
- Lungwort reduces toothache due to pulpitis, reduces tooth sensitivity to cold, hot, and sour.
- Cinquefoil has a mild analgesic, antibacterial and whitening effect.
- Calamus root dulls toothache, strengthens teeth, and has a positive effect on the enamel structure. The plant is used to prepare rinses. And smokers are recommended to simply chew the root - this allows them to quickly give up the bad habit (which will ultimately have a positive effect on the color of their teeth).
Important
Herbs cannot cure pulpitis and other inflammatory diseases that develop inside the tooth. Folk remedies only temporarily relieve the pain, and to eliminate its cause you will have to consult a dentist. And the sooner the better, because the inflammatory process can spread to the periosteum!
NUTS and SEEDS
Nuts and seeds contain substances beneficial for teeth in particularly concentrated quantities, and therefore it is extremely important to eat them regularly.
It will be good if you eat not the same type of nut always, but different varieties of seeds and nuts. Introduce walnuts and pine nuts, hazelnuts and Brazil nuts, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, and flax into your diet. This is important because the composition of nutrients in each nut is different, and therefore the effect is different for everyone. For example, pine nuts help the development of dental bone tissue.
At the same time, remember that cracking nuts with your teeth is a procedure that is traumatic for the tooth, so it is better to avoid it. For the same reason, it is harmful to crack seeds.
What foods are harmful to teeth?
SWEET DRINKS
Sweet carbonated drinks are harmful to the body, especially to the teeth.
So-called soda and juice packages contain a lot of sugar, which not only destroys enamel, being a breeding ground for harmful bacteria, but also changes the chemical composition of saliva, saturating it with glucose, which also has an additional detrimental effect on dental health.
In addition, such drinks contain additives that can disrupt metabolic processes in the body.
Since sweets are harmful to teeth, you should not get carried away even with freshly squeezed natural juices, sweet fruits and berries. The fruit acids and glucose they contain can destroy tooth enamel.
Plain water will help prevent the negative effects of natural juice: just rinse your mouth with it.
SWEETS
Sweets can not only destroy a tooth, but also interfere with its natural restoration, because... The sugar they contain interferes with the absorption of calcium.
The only permitted sweet product can be dark chocolate, but only with a very high cocoa content. This chocolate can even prevent plaque because it contains antibacterial substances.
And if you really want to, please don’t forget to use dental floss after eating and rinse your mouth with water after eating.
DRIED FRUITS
This seemingly useful product, from the point of view of dental health, has a significant drawback - the viscosity of the product structure. This causes them to stick and get stuck in your teeth. Therefore, after eating dried fruits, you should not forget to use dental floss.
CAFFEINE
Coffee and other drinks containing caffeine dehydrate the body, interfere with absorption, and lead to vitamin and mineral deficiencies (including calcium). If you find it difficult to give up coffee, replace it with chicory.
Many people do not know that caffeine is found not only in coffee, but also in black and, especially, green tea. So if you like green tea (or black), try replacing it with herbal tea.
SIMPLE CARBOHYDRATES
And again about sugar. It is found not only in sweets and sugar. Simple sugars are part of starch, which, among other things, consists of potatoes (which is why dishes made from them are so unhealthy), and high-grade white flour.
If you find it difficult to give up flour products, switch to products that include whole grain flour.
ALCOHOL and MEDICINES
When drinking alcoholic drinks, try to dilute them with water, if possible, and then brush your teeth. In addition to the fact that alcohol contains a lot of sugar, which has a detrimental effect on enamel, it also causes dehydration, which means that the production of saliva, an important tool for protecting teeth and oral microflora, is reduced.
Just like alcohol, some medications can cause dehydration, so be sure to drink plenty of fluids while taking your medications.
Roasted nuts and seeds
Only fresh nuts and seeds, in particular, are good for the body and teeth. Fried ones, on the contrary, are harmful. And here's why: the beneficial substances contained in the fresh product are destroyed during the frying process. Moreover, harmful substances are formed in large quantities.
If you can't avoid roasted nuts or seeds, it will be less harmful to your health if you buy them fresh and only lightly roast them yourself at home.
Rinse recipes to strengthen gums and stop bleeding
Knowing the purpose of certain plants, you can create mixtures and prepare rinses yourself. But there are recipes that have been tested over the years, many of which are effective and at the same time very affordable.
1. Mix 1 part string, 1 part raspberry leaves, 1 part strawberry leaves and 2 parts cold mint. 1 tablespoon of the mixture is poured into 200 ml of boiling water and left for 30 minutes. Rinse with warm infusion.
2. Mix 1 tablespoon of dried raspberries and 1 tablespoon of dried black currants, pour 300 ml of boiling water, leave for 3 hours, then rinse your mouth.
3. You can also use infusions from just one plant. So, taking a choice of 1 teaspoon of sage, chamomile, eucalyptus, St. John's wort or calendula, brew it with one glass of boiling water, let it brew and rinse your mouth with the still warm infusion.
