Nutritional Support for Teeth and Good Oral Health

Your teeth are more important than just helping put a smile on your face. Everything from communication, intimacy, nutrition, and appearance are all connected to our oral health. Because of this, oral health and good tooth hygiene should start early and continue throughout life.

We all know the basics, but none of these things will make much difference if you have weak or poor tooth health. There are nutritional approaches to good dental health and strong, healthy teeth and gums.

Give Teeth a Workout

Pet owners have learned that feeding your dog or cat solely a soft-food diet is bad for their tooth and gum heath, so it really shouldn't be a surprise that the same is true for our teeth. Foods that are crunchy--like fresh vegetables, crunchy snacks, hard apples--all help keep teeth strong by giving them a workout with chewing. This helps strengthen gums and keep teeth firmly in place, which allows less food particles to accumulate between teeth. Crunchy foods can also help remove stuck-on food from around the gum line.

Vitamins for Good Tooth Health

If you want your smile to look its best and stay strong, there are certain nutritional supplements that might help achieve this. A Reader's Digest article about oral health indicates calcium and vitamin D are the two best nutritional supplements to take to aid in keeping teeth strong and healthy.

Vitamin D is necessary to help calcium work, and many of us do not get enough from sun exposure and diet. Next time you visit a doctor, ask for a vitamin D test with your blood work and ensure you're getting enough of this important vitamin. Children and women in particular should consult a healthcare professional about calcium supplementation.

Vitamin C also plays a role in tooth and dental health. Vitamin C is found in citrus fruits, but remember: Citrus fruits can wear away enamel, so always be sure to limit their exposure to teeth and brush after eating these items. Beta carotene also plays a role in building strong teeth, and this is converted from vitamin A. Vitamin A comes from orange foods, like carrots, squashes and also from the deep, dark leafy vegetables, like greens.

Minerals for Good Tooth Health

Since teeth are composed of minerals, giving the body the minerals that make up teeth can help ensure you don't lose tooth strength. When a diet is missing important minerals required for good tooth health, teeth can chip, crack and become loose.

The best mineral supplements for tooth health are ones found naturally in healthy, strong teeth. These include: magnesium, phosphorus, calcium. These minerals can be found in foods such as grains, spinach, bananas, meat and fish, but they are also available in your pharmacy or dietary supplement aisles at the grocery store. Talk to your doctor, pharmacist or dental professional to learn how much to take for your dental and tooth health.

Best Advice for Strong, Healthy Teeth

Eat a healthy diet, brush at least twice daily, floss, see your dentist, avoid 'bad foods' that can damage teeth, and you'll go a long way to a healthy smile. But there is one thing frequently overlooked that is a healthy diet addition to improve your smile, not to mention your overall health: Water.

Rinse your mouth with water after each bite; simply take a drink of water in between each bite of food. When you eat something and can't brush, drink cold water. Not only will this help wash away food particles and ensure foods and acids don't sit on your teeth, eating away at them, but it will help you feel full faster, help you eat fewer calories, help your body digest food better, and helps keep your teeth, skin, hair, nails and eyes healthy too.

For a list of more nutritional supplements and how they can help your health, WebMD has a fantastic database of minerals and vitamins.