Your quality of life can be badly affected by poor oral health. Strengthening your teeth is essential to prevent tooth decay. Tooth decay weakens the teeth which results in poor oral health. It prevents you from eating and enjoying your favorite foods. It can also cause complications in your body.
What Does Teeth Strengthening Mean?
The most advised way to strengthen your teeth is to strengthen your tooth enamel. Tooth enamel is the outer layer of the teeth that protects your teeth and acts as a barrier. The bacteria in plaque damages the tooth enamel.
The enamel can also be worn away by grinding or rough brushing habits. Other causes that weaken the tooth enamel include eating disorders, reflux, and developmental defects of the tooth enamel.
When the enamel wears away, it causes adverse effects on your teeth by making them sensitive. This sensitivity makes it painful for you to eat crunchy, sugary, or acidic foods. It can also lead to cavities and gum diseases.
Can You Rebuild Tooth Enamel?
Once your tooth enamel is lost, there is no way to rebuild it. Enamel is an inorganic matter; it cannot regrow like hair, nails, or skin.
Even though you cannot rebuild it, you can reverse the damage before it gets out of hand. This process is called remineralization. Remineralization involves giving your teeth the needed teeth-strengthening minerals and vitamins. There are toothpaste, gels, and rinses available in stores that help you to remineralize your tooth enamel.
Drinking more water helps remineralize your tooth enamel. Drinking water after eating acidic foods helps minimize the damage. Water helps generate saliva and it flushes out harmful food particles from your mouth.
Fluoride found in your toothpaste and mouth rinses is also effective in strengthening the enamel and thereby preventing tooth decay.
Maintaining a healthy diet filled with vitamins and minerals is also important to maintain a healthy dental life. These include:
- Vitamin D
- Vitamin A
- Calcium
- Phosphorous
The above-mentioned vitamins and minerals occur in a variety of foods. Dairy products such as milk, cheese, and yogurt have an abundance of these vitamins and minerals. Others include eggs, oily fish, and green leafy vegetables.
Keeping your entire teeth healthy is important for the overall health of your body.
Contact Dr. Angela An, D.D.S. General Dentistry at (415) 291-8668 or schedule an appointment online to visit our office at 490 Post St #1020, San Francisco, CA 94102 during our business hours.