Smart Snacks

Smart Snacks For A Healthy Smile

Diet and Your Oral Health

Cakes, cookies and sweets taste good but can quickly lead to tooth decay and a quick visit to your dentist. Such foods are rich in carbohydrates like glucose, fructose and sucrose, which cause dental cavities.

What Causes Tooth Decay?

Tooth decay is caused by bacteria in your mouth and in plaque. Poor oral hygiene causes the build-up of plaque. Plaque is formed when bits of foods and saliva combine. The bacteria in plaque convert the sugars in food into acid that dissolves the hard enamel of your teeth, causing tooth decay. The more sweet foods and snacks you eat means bacteria have more sugar to convert to acid, which worsens tooth decay. Tooth decay is one of the most common dental problems today.

How to Protect Your Teeth from Tooth Decay?

You can protect your teeth from tooth decay by eating smart snacks and eating less sugar-laden foods. The eating of sweets, biscuits, and snacks with sugar coatings should be kept to a minimum. The ideal situation would be to avoid foods high in sugar altogether. Eating healthy, unprocessed food, brushing your teeth twice a day with fluoride toothpaste and visiting your dentist regularly will keep tooth decay in check.

Why Should You Eat Smarter Snacks?

Reduce the number of times you eat sugary snacks. Also, avoid snacking on foods that stick to your teeth, including dry fruit, - the longer sugar stays on your teeth the greater the damage caused by tooth decay.

Snack smartly on raw vegetables, fresh fruits, and lean meats. The roughage helps to clean teeth and prevents the build-up of plaque. Pizzas, bread and other grain products are high in sugar content and should be eaten in moderation. Honey, syrups and soft drinks are also high in sugar with the potential to damage teeth.

Fresh fruits including oranges, pears, pineapples, tangerines, and grapefruits make for a quick, healthy smart snack, with little risk of causing tooth decay if eaten in moderation. However, some of the citrusy fruits have acid and as such can damage your enamel, so it should be consumed carefully. For example, if you are drinking freshly squeezed juice or smoothies it is better to use a straw in order to protect your teeth.

 

Raw vegetables such as broccoli, celery, carrots, cucumbers, and tomatoes are refreshing, filling and taste great. Chicken, lean beef, turkey, nuts, sunflower and pumpkin seeds are tasty sources of protein.

Foods made from grains, such as bread, plain bagels, pretzels, pasta and pizza should be eaten in moderation. They are high in starches and could lead to tooth decay. Low-fat milk and milk products including milk, yoghurt, cheese and cottage cheese are good sources of calcium for strengthening tooth enamel.

We Can Help You Fight Tooth Decay

If you have tooth decay or are looking for a dentist in Glasgow please visit us for a dental consultation. The Berkeley Clinic can offer you a number of appropriate treatments to treat your dental cavities. We also do plaque removal because it is one of the factors in treating tooth decay.

For more information contact the Berkeley Clinic in Glasgow today!

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Are you unhappy with your smile, do you get embarrassed by your crooked and discoloured teeth? Is it difficult to eat the foods you love? Would you like to replace missing teeth with a fixed solution, have straighter whiter teeth and get the smile that you’ve always wanted? Call the Berkeley Clinic today to book your consultation and get the smile you've always wanted.

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