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Best Foods for a Bright Smile - Holladay Family Dental
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Best Foods for a Bright Smile

02 Mar 2018 Best Foods for a Bright Smile

Posted at 21:56h in Dental Health, Teeth Whitening by

In a previous blog post, we talked about foods that can stain your teeth. Not all foods cause stains, however. There are many foods that help your mouth to stay healthy and your smile to be bright, some you may not have thought could help.

Fibrous fruits and veggies

Fibrous food keeps smiles white. These are foods naturally containing fiber like apples, pears, and many raw veggies like raw carrots, cauliflower, and celery. All of these foods boost your saliva flow to help digest them. This increased saliva flow actually cleans out your mouth at the same time. Another benefit is that fibrous foods can actually remove some staining as they rub against your teeth when you chew them.

Cheese

You probably would never think of cheese as a food that would help your smile but it does. When you eat cheese after eating a sugary or acid food or drink, it helps to restore the pH balance of your mouth quickly. This lessens bacteria growth that can lead to cavities.

Baking Soda

Brushing your teeth with baking soda once a week can also increase the brightness of your smile. The baking soda gently removes some staining from the enamel.

Water

You’ve heard about the benefits of drinking water before and you’ll probably hear about it again and again. Water helps your mouth and teeth in every way. It cleans food particles from your teeth and gums. It helps restore the pH levels in your mouth. Increasing your water drinking will help your body in every possible way.

Nuts

Nuts are another food that stimulates saliva production, thus cleaning your mouth. Nuts are also rich in protein which can help strengthen teeth.

Strawberries

I bet you didn’t see this one coming. Don’t strawberries stain shirts? Surely, they stain teeth as well, don’t they? Actually, strawberries contain an enzyme called malic acid. Try mashing a few up and rubbing them on your teeth. Leave them for a few minutes, then brush as usual, or just eat them. Strawberries may not whiten as much as commercial products but they do help brighten your smile.

Garlic, Shitake mushrooms, Cocoa and Nutmeg

All of these foods stop bacteria from sticking to teeth. This is great news for chocolate lovers. Dark chocolate and even chocolate milk (even though it has some sugar) can help to protect teeth against decay.

Yogurt

Yogurt can helps stop the growth of “bad” bacteria and can increase the growth of “good” bacteria in your mouth. “Bad” bacteria can contribute to tooth decay and to bad breath. That’s two reasons to eat yogurt.

A few more tips

  • Brush and floss your teeth twice a day.
  • Brush your tongue to decrease the bacteria count in your mouth.
  • Use a straw to drink staining beverages like soda and juice.
  • Chew gum with xylitol. This gum stimulates salvia production without adding bacteria-causing sugar to the teeth.