Teeth Require Adequate Amounts of Vitamins
In addition to your regular dental care, you can promote good health of your teeth and gums with the proper vitamin regimen either through what you eat or as added daily vitamin supplements. Do you know which vitamins you need most?
Vitamin A (Beta-Carotene) for Bone Growth
When you eat foods containing beta-carotene, your body naturally turns the beta-carotene into vitamin A. Vitamin A is important for good bone growth.
Many foods containing beta-carotene are easily recognizable by their orange color such as sweet potatoes, cantaloupe, pumpkin and carrots. You can also get your beta-carotene from dark green leafy vegetables, such as spinach.
Remember that vitamin A builds up in the body, so too much can be toxic. Check the guidelines for daily requirements of Vitamin A.
Vitamin C for Healthy Gums
Vitamin C, (ascorbic acid), is great for the collagen, or connective tissue, in your gums. In addition to bacteria, a lack of vitamin C can cause swollen, bleeding gums referred to as scurvy, eventually causing loss of teeth. Smokers have a higher rate of deficiency of vitamin C.
You can keep your gums healthy with good food choices such as fresh fruits, like kiwi, oranges and other citrus fruits. High contents of vitamin C can also be found in red, yellow and orange peppers. Add tomatoes and broccoli to this list.
Remember that vitamin C is water soluble, therefore, must be consumed each day to replenish the amount lost daily.
Vitamin D
Vitamin D is needed to maintain strong, disease-resistant teeth and jawbones.
Your body naturally absorbs vitamin D from the sun. Of course, caution is advised against too much sun exposure, so start supplementing your diet with foods rich in vitamin D, like vitamin D fortified milk, salmon and sardines; perfect choices for supplementing your intake of vitamin D.
Remember, as you age, you need more vitamin D in your diet. If you don’t go into the sun and don’t eat foods rich in vitamin D, you can take natural vitamin D supplements to increse your intake.
There’s no doubt that foods rich in vitamins are good for maintaining healthy gums and teeth and great for improving your overall health.
Make it a point to include vitamin rich foods into your regimen of regular dental checkups and see what a difference eating right will do for you and for your teeth.
