Maintaining healthy teeth is an important concern for our local Staten Island residents. As your Dentist, it’s my job to help you understand how to care for your teeth and to keep them healthy. Everyone in Staten Island knows that maintaining healthy teeth requires regular daily brushing and flossing. Regular visits to your local Staten Island dental practice is also necessary to keep watch for cavities and to help you maintain proper dental hygiene. We often forget that maintaining a healthy diet can also be beneficial for the health of your teeth.

A diet that includes foods that help your muscles and bones, will also help you develop healthy gums and healthy teeth. Examples of local Staten Island foods to include in your diet include foods rich in vitamin B such as breads and cereals. Foods rich in vitamin C, usually fruits and vegetables, help improve the health of your gums. Zinc and magnesium are also good for the health of your teeth and are found in foods like lean beef, fish, and poultry.

All foods increase the production of saliva. Saliva is important to healthy teeth because it helps to maintain the pH balance in your mouth. Maintaining this balance helps keep your teeth and gums healthy. Foods high in fiber also encourage saliva production as does the chewing of sugar-free gum. Gum, however, can damage unhealthy teeth or pull out dental fillings, so always use caution when deciding whether to chew gum and which brand to chew.

Just as certain diet choices in the Staten Island area can be beneficial to the health of your teeth, others can be detrimental. Foods and drinks that are high in sugars are more likely to form the acids that attack your teeth and result in decay. And while table sugar is often associated with the formation of cavities, other sugars such as glucose, fructose, and maltose are also causes, and are often found in juices and sodas. Limiting the consumption of sugars to mealtimes lessens the amount of time your healthy teeth are exposed.

Making good diet choices and limiting between meal sugar consumption can improve the health of your teeth and gums.

If you would like to learn how to better care for your healthy teeth in the Staten Island area, contact Staten Island Dental Care at (347) 695-4370. We would love to hear from you.

-Dr. Fredrick S. Hecht