If you clean your teeth well, can you eat anything? Not, because cleaning your teeth is of no use if you eat and drink the wrong foods between meals.“Cavities have a lot to do with what we eat,” says German dentist Stefan Zimmer. “They occur primarily because we eat unhealthily, i.e. with low-molecular-weight carbohydrates such as sugar,” says Zimmer, who is a professor of dental care and preventive dental medicine at the University of Witten/Herdecke.
Cavities are formed by a combination of plaque and sugar, as the bacteria in plaque “wait” for the sugar. They produce acids with it, which decalcify the teeth. Cavities are the consequence of these processes.
Those who don’t have plaque shouldn’t be afraid of sugar. The problem is that it’s almost impossible to remove it from all the corners, nooks, and crannies between your teeth.
Therefore, it is best not to give plaque the ammunition it needs to attack through food. But care does not depend only on what you eat, but also on when and how. Here are some tips:
– Take breaks between meals: Complex processes take place in the mouth. As described above, bacterial plaques are present there, which produce acids with sugar. This causes the pH to fall below a critical level and decalcifies the teeth. “It takes about three-quarters of an hour until the pH value rises above this level again,” explains Zimmer. “In that time, the tooth is vulnerable to attack,” he says.
The good news is that the body regulates this on its own if given time. This means: taking several hours between meals and not snacks or drinking acidic beverages.
– Choose your snacks wisely: If you are hungry between breakfast and lunch or in the afternoon, the best thing for dental health is to eat a vegetable.
“A low-sugar snack that you can chew well and firmly,” says Zimmer. The ideal vegetable is a celery stalk, which is rich in fiber and cleans teeth when chewed. Carrots, chili, and beetroot are also perfect snacks.

If you prefer something sweet, an apple is the best option. “It has sugar, but not too much,” she explains. Acidic fruits, such as oranges, are also good for snacking, but only if you don’t brush your teeth soon after. “This removes the already corroded tooth structure,” says Sommer.
The case of bananas is different. After eating such a sweet fruit, it is best to use a toothbrush to remove plaque from your teeth.
Back to oranges: what about orange juice for breakfast? By this logic, it would not be a good idea, since the acid attacks the teeth, and after breakfast one should brush them. Dentist Zimmer suggests a solution: drink the juice in large gulps instead of sipping it. This results in less orange juice remaining on the teeth.
– Better nothing sticky: Sticky food is not so easy to rinse and becomes a problem for teeth, as it causes food to harm longer.
French fries are one example. “They are sticky and you can tell when they stick to the chewing surfaces,” Zimmer says. So be careful with them, as they often contain carbohydrates that are bad for your teeth.
– Vitamins help: Fruits, green leafy vegetables, and yellow vegetables contain a lot of vitamin A, which is good for the mucous membrane of the mouth. Vitamin C helps keep teeth firm, while vitamin D is good for their growth and hardening.
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