Top Most Effective Ways To Keep Your Teeth Strong

The key to beautiful teeth that last a lifetime is to dedicate time towards their health everyday. Oral hygiene is important not only for having clean breath, but for keeping teeth and gums disease-free. While some contributing factors are hereditary, there are many things you can do to stay proactive. Here are six ways to strengthen your pearly whites and keep them forever.

Use a Fluoride Paste

Brushing your teeth should already be part of your daily routine and everyone benefits from using a paste with fluoride. Fluoride is often found in some municipal water supplies, too. When fluoride is used, it helps your teeth's enamel to become more resistant to the acids that eventually cause decay. For example, if you live in Arizona, find a caring staff specializing in family dentistry in Chandler AZ that can also advise you on fluoride treatments especially if you're prone to decay.

Drink Your Milk

When mom told you to drink your milk all those years ago, she wanted you to have strong teeth and bones. While this advice may seem old-fashioned, the fact remains that calcium helps protect your tooth enamel. Be sure to add plenty of calcium-rich foods to your diet every day. This could include yogurt, cheese and sardines. If you don't eat dairy, you can still bone-up on your calcium intake with fortified orange juice, leafy green vegetables, beans, almonds or a calcium supplement that includes vitamin-D.

Toss the Sugar

If there is one thing you should remove from your diet, it would be refined sugar. Not only does sugar cause you to gain weight, it rapidly increases your risk for diabetes, heart disease and even cancer. It also takes a huge toll on your teeth. When you eat a lot of sweets, bacteria feeds on the sugar producing an acid that decays teeth. Soda pop is especially dangerous, as over time it actually erodes the tooth's enamel and exposes sensitive dentin.

Drink More Water

You already know that drinking water has a myriad of health benefits and you need it daily for healthy skin, hair, joints and for staying at the proper weight. It turns out that water benefits your teeth, too. Drinking the daily recommended amount of water removes food and bacteria that's sitting on your teeth. It helps keep dangerous acid at bay from bacteria and acid reflux. Drinking water also helps saliva production stay high and prevents dry mouth.

Invest in a Night Guard

If you experience a lot of stress in your day-to-day life, there's a good chance you could be grinding your teeth at night. Grinding, or bruxism, can result in massive amounts of pressure on your jaw while you sleep without you even realizing it. This can compromise the strength of your teeth by wearing them down and even cracking them. If you're experiencing symptoms such as headaches, noise in your jaw and bites on your inner cheek, ask your dentist to look for evidence of grinding and find out if you need a night guard.

Floss Every Day

Even though you're meticulous about brushing your teeth, even the most expensive brush can't get into every space. If you're not fond of flossing, or have very narrow spaces between your teeth, there are more options today than ever before. Besides the standard waxed floss, you can buy thin ribbon floss, extra thin varieties and handy picks, some with floss as thin as sewing thread. You can also find dental floss in all sorts of flavors like peppermint, wintergreen, cinnamon and fun flavors for kids like bubblegum.

Pay Close Attention

While practicing good dental habits should be second nature, sometimes a busy lifestyle can cause them to fall by the wayside. By implementing a few small changes, you can make a huge difference in preventing tooth damage and pain. By simply eating more calcium, drinking more water, brushing with fluoride and staying on top of your dental appointments, you can have a set of strong, healthy teeth that will last you for life.