Learn how to keep a healthy mouth and a killer smile.

Protecting Your Teeth Protects Your Body

Protecting and caring for your oral health should always be a priority. Everyone knows about brushing and flossing regularly, and while these are incredibly important habits to maintain for a healthy mouth, they can impact more than just your teeth.

Good oral and dental care translate to good health overall. Dental problems like tooth decay or gum disease can impair your ability to eat and speak properly, even causing pain and bad breath. With routine visits to your dentist and good oral hygiene, your teeth should last a lifetime, as they were designed to do.

Watch What You Eat

What did you eat today? Your food choices might be damaging your teeth  right now. The wrong foods can harm your oral health.

• Stay away from overly processed and sugary foods
• Make sure you're getting enough calcium
• Ingesting food and drinks with lots of sugar and sweeteners ‘feeds’ the bacteria on teeth and gums in the mouth
• Avoid treats such as toffees, hard sweets and suckers that stay in the mouth for a long time. - Raisins and dried fruit should also be limited because these fruit stick on and in between the teeth, creating teeth-damaging acid.
• Sodas and other darker-coloured drinks such as coffee and tea should be drunk in moderation

Strengthening Your Teeth

• Drink plenty of water, especially fluoridated water. Bottled water usually does not contain fluoride, so this is not your best option.
• Foods that contain fluoride are good for you. These include fish, tea, grape juice and green leafy vegetables.

• Nuts and seeds, that make a great, mouth-friendly snack. Foods with high amounts of calcium and phosphorus, they can protect teeth by replenishing those minerals.
• Calcium is a key part of a healthy diet. You probably already know that it's good for your bones, but it plays the same role in reinforcing your teeth, too. Dairy products, such as cheese and milk, are a great source of calcium and encourage the strength of our teeth. Greens and foods with high fibre content are also great additions to your diet.

Taking care of your mouth is important. Minimise damaging foods, add some healthy choices, and you can keep your teeth in even better shape than normal.