The habit of keeping the mouth, teeth, and gums clean and away from disease is called dental hygiene. Though dental health and hygiene are often neglected, but are vital in our everyday lives. Drinking water plays an essential role in our overall health, also helps keep our mouth clean and improves our oral hygiene.
Water is unlike any other drink and the healthiest drink available ever. Drinking water helps your teeth stay healthy, particularly if it’s fluoridated. Drinking water with fluoride is natural and most beneficial things you can do to help prevent cavities.
It doesn’t matter how much you drink, but drinking water is always good for the overall health. Our bodies consist of 60% water, and staying hydrated aids your system to distribute healthy nutrients, gets rid of waste, gives glowy skin, and also keeps your muscles moving, and helps to keep your teeth healthy in many ways. Drinking water is also one of the best things you can do for your teeth – especially if it’s fluoridated.
Why Is Water Essential For Oral Health?
- Prevents cavities and staining – When you drink soda or sugary drinks, the sugars in the drinks get combined with the bacteria in your mouth and form acids that affect the enamel. And if you drink water throughout the day, it helps to clean some of the sugars and food particles from your teeth that stimulate stains and cavities. As it is not always feasible to brush your teeth after every meal, drinking a glass of water helps.
- Strengthens those pearly whites – Drinking water with fluoride is a natural cavity fighter. Fluoride is a mineral, which we can get from local tap water. Fluoridation is the most economical/cost-effective way to prevent tooth decay and build healthy communities.
- Cleans the lousy stuff – Water is an excellent mouth cleaner because it washes away leftover food and residue that cavity-stimulating bacteria. These kinds of bacteria love to eat sugar and produce acid that wears away enamel, which is the outer shell of your teeth. And sugar is left behind from drinking juice, soda or sports, etc.
- Fights against bad breath – There are a few varieties of bacteria that grow in a dry mouth, from which people have “morning breath.” This can be taken care of by keeping hydrated with water. Water hinders the harmful breath bacteria from forming and also develops saliva to clean food particles that lead to bad breath or tooth decay.
- Source of fluoride – A good amount of fluoride is present in the public source of water. Fluoridated water helps fight tooth decay and cavities, strengthens the entire tooth structure by making it more resistant to decay.
- Fights dry mouth – Our saliva consists of 99% of water. And when you are low on saliva, you will most likely experience dry mouth (this condition makes it challenging to swallow and chew because of a lack of saliva). Saliva is a significant component to fight against tooth decay; it washes away leftover food, helps you swallow easily, and keeps your teeth healthy by washing them with calcium, phosphate, and fluoride. When your saliva supply is less, dry mouth may also put you at risk for tooth decay. If you are consuming enough water, you help prevent dry mouth.
- Calorie-free drink – All the sweetened beverages that are available in the market are high in sugar and calories, which puts you at risk for cavities and other dental issues. But studies have shown that drinking water can fight cavities. Hence, when you need a drink, go guilt-free with water to take care of your body and your smile.
Therefore, to sum up, we can say that water always washes your mouth with every sip. It cleans away leftover food and residue that cavity-causing bacteria are looking for. It also deals with the acids manufactured by the bacteria in your mouth. Brushing your teeth twice a day keeps clean between your teeth, drinking water through the day will help you keep your smile cavity-free and healthy. Drinking water with fluoride (natural cavity fighter) is one of the most comfortable and beneficial things you can do to help prevent cavities. The soft drinks available in the market may wash down your food, but they can leave unwanted sugar behind on your teeth. This sugar is consumed by the cavity-causing bacteria in your mouth and produce acid that wears away enamel, which is the outer shell of your teeth. Many of these drinks also have added acids (citrus, phosphoric, or malic acid) to make them taste less sweet. Still, those acids also cause trouble by eroding enamel. When you feel thirsty, instead of going for a soda or sports drink, get a glass of water instead.
At Dr. Mohamed Ali’s office, San Francisco, he will thoroughly asses your mouth before recommending treatments considering about your dental issues. If required, he might suggest some alternatives which are best suited for your needs. The billing experts will inspect your insurance benefits. They will offer you a complete treatment plan with all the necessary arrangements. Every major dental and medical PPO insurance plans are accepted, including Medicare. There is also an in-office Plan for Health for those who don’t have any insurance. Also, we have partnered with various financial institutions like The Lending Club, Care Credit, Healthcare Finance Solutions to make your treatment extremely affordable. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. So sit, relax, and get sparkling white teeth. Call us today to schedule your consultation. You can reach us at 415.391.7751.
