Smile-Friendly Diet: 5 Foods That Help Your Smile

How do you keep a great smile for the long run? Well, it takes a combination of things. The first is to make sure that you are attending your regular dental appointments with your dentist. Normally, these would be every six months. This give Dr. Kapers a chance to stay on top of your dental health and address any issues that may begin to develop. A second part is your home dental hygiene. This is brushing your teeth twice a day, flossing your teeth regularly, and using mouthwash to help keep your gums healthy on a daily basis.

The last part of this healthy smile equation is your diet. What you put in your mouth has a huge impact on how healthy your mouth is. This is hard for some people to get on board with, because they are in love with the foods they eat. That’s why we want to help you by showing you some foods that will help your smile stay great, and also help your meals be great as well.

Foods That Help Your Smile

Finding foods that help your smile and add taste to your meals can seem hard, but it is actually pretty easy. In fact, many of these foods you are probably already eating on a regular basis.

Cheese – Cheese is a great way to increase the flavor of your meal, and it almost doesn’t matter what kind of meal you’re eating. You can put cheese on just about anything and it magically becomes better. About the only think cheese doesn’t compliment well is morning breakfast items like cold or hot cereal and oatmeal. Cheese also is great for your teeth. It is a dairy food, so it is high in calcium (helps build healthy teeth) and protein (helps build healthy everything else). The next time you are sitting down for a meal, reach for the cheese as a topping. Your smile and tastebuds will thank you later on.

Yogurt – Another member of the dairy family, this one is less easy to incorporate into your diet. You can’t just take yogurt and throw it into any meal you make. Yogurt is great, however, as a breakfast/lunch/snack item. Take some plain yogurt and mix in some granola and/or fresh fruit, and you have yourself a healthy and smile-friendly meal. The calcium and protein in the yogurt will help your teeth stay strong and healthy, while the probiotics (good bacteria) crowd out the bacteria that causes tooth decay in your mouth. Your smile wins in two ways with this food as a member of your daily diet.

Apples – Apples are a great way to keep your teeth clean and healthy. They are also great for you. Apples are a natural fruit that contain good sugars. Good sugars are able to be burnt off more easily than artificially processed sugars that many foods contain. These processed sugars often end up getting stored as fat in your body. Apples also clean your teeth as you eat them and stimulate your gums. This leaves your mouth feeling fresh, clean, and revived. Take an apple to work for a snack or as part of your lunch. They are a great way of making sure your mouth stays clean in between brushings.

Leafy Greens – Everyone knows they are supposed to eat their greens, but we all find ways to conveniently exclude them from our diet. This is a bad idea. They are a great food that contain vital nutrients that can help your teeth remain healthy, and finding ways to include them is not as hard as you think. Order a side salad instead of fries next time, throw some kale in with your protein shake – whatever you do, just make sure that leafy greens make it into your meals.

Almonds – These are a lot like cheese in that they are great on almost everything you eat. In fact, they are great on pretty much everything. Take a handful and toss them on your cereal in the morning. Add some almonds to the salad you’re eating for lunch, or put them on the chicken you are having for dinner. Eat them alone as a snack. You can even put them on whatever dessert you are treating yourself to. They will add flavor and nutrients to them all. They are a great source of calcium, which we already know your teeth love and can’t get enough of.

Helping your teeth stay strong and healthy is easy. Let Dr. Kapers and his staff at Creating Smiles, PC help you today. Call our St. John, IN dental office today at 219-322-9920 for an appointment. You can also call our Valparaiso, IN office at 219-462-1970.