Nutrition for Healthy Teeth

Oral health is often a sensitive topic because it can have a significant impact on your self-image — whether you’re a child,16 adolescent,17 or adult.18 But since oral hygiene also plays an essential part in your overall well-being, it’s important to develop and inspire good habits centered on dental health. One way to set a foundation for success is through a healthy diet, as making smart nutritional choices every day can have lasting positive impacts on your teeth and gums.

In our guide to nutrition for healthy teeth, we’ll give you all of the details on the multitude of ways you can promote better oral health for yourself and your children.

Preventive oral hygiene can keep you from developing issues like cavities and gum disease. Dental professionals agree that the following daily habits are the most important for keeping your mouth in tip-top shape:1

• Brush your teeth twice a day with fluoride toothpaste
• Floss once a day
• Brush your tongue, too
• Regularly visit your dentist for routine exams and cleanings
• Avoid smoking
• Drink fluoridated water22

While these daily habits are highly important, they aren’t the only steps you can take to promote better oral health. As the focus of this guide, the following sections delve into how the foods you eat can impact your teeth.

As mentioned above, your diet also has a significant impact on the state of your oral health. Consuming too many sugary foods or carbohydrates can promote tooth decay, while a balanced diet centered around nutrient-dense foods can facilitate a healthy mouth and body. As stated by the American Dental Association, a “bidirectional relationship exists between oral health and diet and nutrition,” meaning that your diet affects the health of your teeth and oral tissues, and the health of your mouth can affect the nutrients you consume.2 (Poor oral health can actually lead to reduced nutritional intake.)19

Certain nutrients, which we outline below, are especially vital to promoting better oral health.

For those who want to learn more about the food groups that make up an overall healthy diet — which can benefit more than just your oral health — MyPlate from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) offers resources on the five essential food groups, along with a collection of healthy, budget-friendly recipes.

Sugary, starchy snacks are one of the biggest culprits behind tooth decay because they feed plaque, a sticky film of bacteria that forms on the teeth.9 The bacteria then produce acid that harms tooth enamel, making you more susceptible to cavities, gum disease, and tooth loss.10

Sipping on sugary drinks or snacking throughout the day causes the teeth to undergo a steady acid assault, elevating your risk of dental problems. Having some tooth plaque is normal, and daily brushing helps keep it from building up and becoming tartar (which only a dental professional can remove). If you don’t have the option to brush after snacking, rinsing your mouth with water to release food particles can be helpful.

Added sugars are often hidden in our food, and even snack bars marketed as “healthy” can be crammed with ingredients that may harm your oral health. Try to avoid sticky or hard candies and beverages like soda or sports drinks. Instead, choose healthy snacks like plain yogurt or raw fruits and veggies to curb your hunger, get the nutrients you need, and avoid too much sugar in your diet.

Good oral hygiene is just as important for kids as for adults. By age five, nearly 50% of children have one or more cavities, which can negatively impact their permanent teeth.11 As grown-ups, we can help them toward a healthier future by instilling good practices and providing them with the support they need to facilitate their own dental care.

Proper oral hygiene

Children need instruction and guidance on keeping their teeth clean and cavities at bay. For babies, wipe their gums with a soft cloth after their first feeding in the morning and right before bed at night. When their teeth start to appear, it’s best to brush with a soft, infant-sized toothbrush using just water. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that families take their babies for an initial visit to the dentist by their first birthday.11

At around age three, your child can begin using a pea-sized amount of fluoride toothpaste while brushing (twice a day). It’s very important to supervise your child as they do so. You may need to do the actual brushing for them until ages 6-8, especially when it comes to reaching the back teeth — an area often overlooked by kids. Also, make sure they know to spit out the toothpaste when they finish instead of swallowing it. In later visits, a pediatric dentist may suggest applying dental sealants or fluoride varnish to help with cavity prevention.

What your child drinks

Bad habits start early, but so can good habits. For beverages, the AAP recommends that babies under 12 months old stick to breast milk or formula. As you transition your baby from bottle to sippy cup (typically around 12 months of age), introduce water between mealtimes to establish a healthy habit and cleanse their mouth of lingering plaque bacteria. Children between the ages of 1-5 years old can have milk and water, but juice and other sweetened drinks should be avoided.13

How bottles affect oral health

While it can be tempting to let your baby go to sleep with a bottle, doing so puts them at risk for developing baby bottle tooth decay, also known as early childhood caries.12 This condition arises from prolonged exposure to the sugars in beverages like juice, formula, and breast milk. Treatment can range from fluoride treatment to tooth extractions in severe cases.

Fortunately, baby bottle tooth decay is preventable with a good routine. Try to finish up bottles before bedtime and resist the urge to use them as a soothing pacifier for a fussy baby.

Water and fluoride

Fluoride is critical for oral health because it strengthens teeth and helps reduce the risk of cavities.14 Many communities in the United States add enough fluoride to their water supply to make it effective in preventing tooth decay. You can search the CDC’s “My Water’s Fluoride” page to determine whether the water in your area is fluoridated (the optimal amount is 0.7 parts per million).15

Studies indicate that drinking fluoridated water can reduce tooth decay by around 25% in both children and adults. And researchers note that “the only widely recognized” concern caused by drinking water containing fluoride is an often mild cosmetic condition called dental fluorosis (white or brown speckles on the teeth).20 21