New Year’s Teeth Resolutions: 5 Good Foods and 5 Bad Foods For Your Teeth

With a new year comes a new set of resolutions and new good intentions for your health, including dental health.

Good Foods

General good health usually means good health for your teeth as well. Eating your fruits and vegetables along with drinking enough water are important parts of good health.

Carrots

Crunchy, tasty, and good for your teeth, carrots are an easy snack to take to work or school. They benefit your overall health by providing vitamins and minerals and keep your teeth strong.

Apples

They’ve been referred to as “nature’s toothbrush”. Apples are another portable, easy snack that also come in many varieties to please any taste palate.

Water

Are you seeing a pattern? The things that are good for your body in general are also good for your teeth! Along with keeping you hydrated, water flushes your teeth throughout the day to help prevent staining and cavities.

Lettuce

Chewing salads thoroughly helps maintain jaw strength and keeps your body healthy. Eating your greens is vitally important to overall health.

Whole Grains

Fueling your body with healthy carbs will keep you feeling full, meaning you are more likely to avoid the foods below in the “bad” category.

Bad Foods

While snacking on “bad” foods every now and then won’t ruin your smile, or your health, having them all as part of your daily diet will slowly degrade your teeth and your health. Swap out foods from the healthy category and you’ll be on your way to a healthier smile.

Sugar

Sugar slowly grinds away at your sensitive tooth enamel. It easily gets caught in the crevices of your teeth and starts cavities. If you do eat sugar, rinse your mouth with water and make sure to brush and floss thoroughly every day.

Coffee/Tea/Soda

For a bright white smile, avoid drinks that will stain your teeth like coffee, tea, and soda. While your teeth being white doesn’t necessarily make them healthy, it means less whitening procedures that can damage your teeth when done often.

Red Food Dye

You’d be surprised how often red dye ends up in foods. This one is pretty obvious- it’s a dye! Try to avoid it or it will likely stain your teeth over time. Check food labels to see exactly what is in your food.

Chips

Fried anything is to be avoided. Of course it depends on the brand and cooking method but in general in today’s market, chips are chemical-laden, salty, fatty junk food. They don’t provide nutritional value. They are full of sharp edges that are especially dangerous in little hands. Whatever reason you need, put down the chips and pick up a carrot.

Cookies

Combining refined sugars and unhealthy carbs makes this an undesirable snack, twofold. There are options out there with less sugar, more good carbs, etc. but unless you make them yourself, you never really know what is in them. Apples are sweet, too, grab one of those instead of the cookie.

Keep your teeth in mind for your New Year’s Resolutions- brush and floss twice a day, every day and schedule cleanings and check-ups regularly!

Image: Mateo Catanese

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