WatchNutrition & Your Teeth
For better and worse: how what you eat affects your teeth
Aside from brushing and flossing, nothing shapes your cavity risk more than your diet. Here's why: sugars and certain carbohydrates feed the bacteria in your mouth, and those bacteria produce acids that demineralize tooth enamel. Acidic drinks like sodas and sports drinks attack the enamel directly, so the combination of the two is especially damaging.
This video breaks the science down in clear terms. Every time you snack or sip something sugary or acidic, the pH in your mouth drops and an acid attack begins. The longer that food lingers on your teeth, and the more often you re-expose them through the day, the more demineralization builds up, eventually starting a cavity.
Here's the reassuring part: your body fights back on its own. Saliva washes away debris and delivers the calcium and phosphate that help remineralize enamel. You can give it a boost by chewing sugar-free gum or eating a small piece of cheese after a meal to increase saliva flow and neutralize acids, and by limiting snacking between meals so your teeth have time to recover.
Building tooth-friendly eating habits early pays lifelong dividends, and that's especially true for kids. Bring your nutrition questions to your next visit at Way Dental, and we'll talk through specific changes that fit how your family actually eats.
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