Eat Your Way To A Healthier Holiday Smile
Family friends and celebration during the holidays certainly gives cause for a lot of smiling. Nurturing our smile unfortunately gets over-looked. Holiday stresses can show up in your mouth as dental infection, pain and gum issues.
Brushing, flossing and check up by a dentist or dental hygienist are just a few tools to keep your smile it’s healthiest. First fight inflammation by maintaining a balance between your good and bad bacteria. It is also just as important to support your hormones and manage stress. Stress can wreak havoc on your oral health causing teeth grinding that can lead to tooth fractures, dental pain and TMJ issues to name a few complications. Hormones such as cortisol (stress hormone) and insulin if not in balance can lead to gum infections, periodontal disease and dental sores.
By feeding your smile you are also feeding all biochemical and physiological functions connected to oral health. The mouth to include the nervous system, tissues, bone, tongue taste buds, muscles and circulation all need love too.
Holiday Balsamic & Cranberry Veggie Roast
But here are two foods that may not be on your healthy smile food radar.
Squash
Squash is packed with gum-building vitamins A and C plus potassium and fiber.
Vitamin C
Clinical studies indicate that vitamin C is integral in periodontal healthy.reference J Can Dent Assoc. 1989 Sep;55(9):705-7. Vitamin C is key to the production of collagen, a protein which heals wounds in the body, and it helps maintain the immune system so that it can function properly and fight against infection.
Vitamin A
If you are eating a balanced diet with lots of veggies Vitamin A levels should not be a problem But conditions such as protein deficiency, diabetes, hyperthyroidism, liver/pancreas problems can cause low levels of vitamin A.
Not only does Vitamin A play a role in the development of healthy tooth enamel its is linked to healthy saliva flow. Your salivary functions are important for good digestion but saliva protects your oral health tissues. Dry mouth is a huge problem for many of my patients and it can lead to advanced tooth decay and dental infections.
Ref. https://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/picture-of-the-pancreas
Cranberries
Cranberry dishes are a favorite during the holidays. Perhaps cranberries should stay on your shopping list through and beyond the holidays.
Proanthocyanidins [PACs] are the most abundant phytochemicals identified from the cranberry fruit. Cranberry PAC’s have been reported to play a role in preventing dental infection by inhibiting bacterias such as Porphyromonas gingivalis and P gingivalis from taking hold in your mouth. PACs have been shown clinically to reduce the proliferation and destructive activities not only of P. gingivalis, but also other pathogens in periodontal pockets .PAC’s have also been shown effective in preventing adherence and biofilm formation by Candida albicans, the causative agent of thrush and many yeast infections.