Nutrition and the Mouth

In my office, this has been the summer of healthy mouths.  I can’t remember ever seeing this little decay in a given period of time.  One week, in the first two days, the first fifteen patients didn’t have one cavity among them.  Of course, the sixteenth, a fifteen year old boy had thirteen cavities, but still, that’s pretty amazing.

What’s going on?  Well, “first and foremost”, fluoride in the water and in toothpaste really works.  Some of us can remember that in the fifties there was such a stink about fluoridating the water, a communist plot and all that.  Well, if the communists were responsible, we owe them for our way-healthier teeth.

The other thing that I think might be going on is that we’re eating better.  We know that junk food, fast food, candy bars, soft drinks, pasta and white bread, red meats and dairy products make the body more acidic and are therefore inflammatory.  Even too much protein (supplements for gym rats) is acidifying.  Where as, leafy green vegetables and fruits are alkalizing and therefore anti-inflammatory.

For about the past year, the medical-dental field has been talking about how gingival inflammation as a result of inadequate home care and/or regular trips to the dental hygienist can cause cardio-vascular problems and strokes and even pancreatic cancer.  I guess it goes both ways.  If the body is on the acidic side of the continuum,   the pH of the saliva is more acidic, which is conducive to tooth decay and gum disease. 

I have references and websites in my office if you want to more-thoroughly pursue the nutritional connection to oral health.  I even have a chart showing which foods are acidifying and which are alkalizing.  The phone number, on the outside chance that you don’t have it on a refrigerator magnet, is 949-459-7212.