How to Strengthen Your Teeth with Common Foods

Our teeth are one of the most important tools we have as humans. They are responsible for a number of things, but one of the biggest things they help us do is EAT. And we love to eat. But, with all that we put into our mouths to be broken down by our teeth so that we can swallow, have you ever thought about what foods may actually strengthen our teeth? If you’re like me, you’re constantly searching for the best work out plan to build a bigger bicep or chest. Or you’re researching different foods that help maximize the muscle growth process. But what about our teeth? Our teeth are important too, and it’s just as important to help strengthen them as well. And although brushing and flossing is a good start to great oral hygiene, complete oral hygiene extends far beyond the two.

Can foods actually strengthen your teeth?

Yes, various foods contain compounds that help build the enamel on our teeth which ultimately helps prevent tooth decay.

What are these strengthening agent foods?
Glad you asked. Although there are many different foods that strengthen overall tooth and gum health, I’ll leave the list to seven, for now… Seven different foods that aid in the process of healthier and stronger gums and teeth are cheese, fish, oranges, fruits and veggies, green and black tea, chocolate, and water.

Why is cheese on the list?

Cheese acts as a superfood for our teeth because of its ability to fight acid erosion that many other foods can cause our teeth to succumb to. Various breads, sweets, and sodas make our teeth susceptible to acid erosion. Therefore, eating cheese after meals can be a great way to combat the effects of the aforementioned foods.

Seriously, chocolate is good for your overall tooth and gum health?

Congratulations! You can read! Yes, chocolate is actually good for your enamel. As long as that chocolate is of the dark kind. You see, it’s not the actual chocolate that helps your teeth, it’s what is in the cocoa bean, CBH. In fact, because of the compound CBH, there are many health professionals that say dark chocolate is more effective in building your enamel than fluoride. Now, that’s some kind of crazy! Nonetheless, dark chocolate is only good for your teeth if it is eaten in moderation. Eating a mess of dark chocolate will do no more for your teeth than burning down a pack of marlboro reds.

Visualizing Healthcare Costs in a New Way

Did you know the average cost of a dental cleaning (with no insurance) is between $75-200 depending on the area of the country in which this cleaning is done? Did you also know that it is recommended to get your teeth cleaned by a dental professional twice per year? How about this… Did you know that if by the age of 65 you still have all of your permanent teeth, your chances of living into your 90’s are increased greatly?

So, if we take the median price of the aforementioned range, for $275 per year you can help increase the number of years you’ll have on this earth. Now, I can think of a number of things that we blow $275 per year on. And most of these things definitely don’t promote health and wellness in our lives. If anything, they add to the long term deterioration of our bodies and livelihood. Yet, I so often hear how the dentist is “too expensive” or “I don’t have dental insurance”. We dish out so many excuses for why we don’t have regular dental visits. Quite frankly, they hold zero weight when you actually look at the numbers and see how inexpensive high quality dental care really is (especially in regards to the added long term health of our lives).

Did you know the average price of a cup of coffee is $2.99? And if you bought this cup of coffee for 13 full weeks out of the entire year, you’d have spent $275 on cups of coffee? And yet, I’ve never heard anyone say how expensive coffee is. You see, when something is “cheap” it gets bought over and over and over and over again. And before you know it, you’ve spent an ungodly amount of money on the very thing you thought was “cheap”. Instead, you could have spent that same money on something that is proven to extend life as we know it.

My argument is to stop making excuses regarding dental hygiene. Brushing and flossing twice per day is not enough to prevent gum disease, cavities, extractions, etc. This is a great start to having great hygiene, but in order to put yourself in the best position possible to have long term high quality oral hygiene, you need to have your teeth cleaned by a professional twice per year. And considering how much Americans spend on coffee each year, the cost to get that coffee stain off your teeth is inexpensive.