Foods That Whiten The Teeth:

While certain foods you consume can do damage to the teeth by staining, or by causing decay here are a list of foods you can enjoy. Dr. Anna Lee recommends consuming these foods instead of high sugar, high carb foods.  Foods that are rich in color and water content are better for your smile.

           

·      Different types of peppers

·      Strawberries - remove tooth stains/discoloration

·      Seeds & nuts - they rub plaque and stains off the surface of teeth

·      Yogurt - helps to remove food from the teeth, keeps your smile white, and helps to keep your tooth enamel decay-free

While you can choose other products to whiten your smile, consuming some of these foods every day can help naturally whiten your smile. This reduces your chances of sensitivity due to a whitening product.

For more information contact Dr. Anna Lee & her team today!

Foods/Drinks Stain Teeth:

The foods you consume are the critical pieces to enhance the overall health of your smile.  What you eat is directly correlated to whether or not your smile is impacted positively or negatively. These suggested foods can stain your teeth and impact the overall look. Dr. Anna Lee recommends, “Minimize or brush directly after eating in order to lesson the chance these items have to stain your teeth.”

·      tea

·      coffee

·      wine-red

·      sauces-tomato, soy, curry

·      diet soda, sports drinks

·      blueberry, blackberry, cherry, pomegranate

For more information on other food that benefits your smile, contact Dr. Lee & her team today.

Don’t Reach For A Bad Snack

While you are sitting around the house looking for food to consume, think and apply these few simple rules in order to help protect your teeth from decay. Dr. Anna Lee recommends limiting the number of snacks you are consuming throughout your day.

Bad Snacks with high sugar content that cause tooth decay:

·      Cakes, sweet biscuits

·      Chewy & hard candies

·      Soda, sports drinks

·      Fruit juices

·      Peanut butter

·      Potato chips

·      Crackers

·      Popcorn

·      Fruit snack bars, muesli bars

·      Some breakfast cereal

·      Dried fruit

For more information Contact Dr. Lee & her team today.

A List of Snacks

Snacking can cause an increase in weight, cause dental decay and increase the negative impact of too many calories consumed. But if you are going to consume smaller meals, eating a healthy snack in between can be a fantastic way to ward off consuming too many calories and a large meal at the end of the day. Dr. Lee recommends, “Stick to these six rules when snacking in order to keep your sugar levels under control.”

 

Good Snacks promote good health:

·      Milk-high calcium content promotes healthy teeth and bones

·      Cheese-high calcium content promotes healthy teeth, probiotic benefits

·      Tap Water-contains fluoride, a mineral that protects against tooth decay

·      Fresh fruits-high in water contents & fibers: apples, oranges, pears, melons, strawberries and others

·      Raw vegetables-high in water contents & fibers: broccoli, celery, carrots, spinach, cucumbers and others

·      Yogurt-high calcium content strengthens teeth; has healthy, protective bacteria

For more information on healthy food choices, contact Dr. Anna Lee & her team today!

Ready to Snack? Think about:

Snacking may have become a regular part of your routine. While snacking can help decrease the large meals you eat that pack on the pounds. You don’t want to go crazy during the snacks. “If you’re going to reach for a snack there are three things to think about in order to keep your smile healthy,” suggests Dr. Anna Lee.

The number of times a day you eat sugary snacks is critical to the health of your smile. An increase in sugar snacks increases the likelihood of cavities and decay.

How long the sugary food stays in your mouth is critical to think about when you are reaching for that snack. You can easily travel with a toothbrush, toothpaste and floss in your purse, to decrease the amount of time that sugar stays on your teeth. But if you can’t brush right away, Dr. Lee encourages you to reach for something healthy instead.

Are the snacks sticky? Chewy? If the snack is sticky or chewy it is more likely to stick to the surface of the teeth making it more difficult to remove from the teeth. It can also stick between the teeth, which increases your risk of periodontal disease.

For more information contact Dr. Lee & her team today.

Oral Care for Children & Adults

Your smile is the way you communicate with your friends you are enjoying their company. It is how you tell your boyfriend you want to spend more time with him, and how you communicate to your children they have made you proud. Having a healthy smile can help increase feelings of happiness, hope, as well as open up career options. Here are five tips on how you and your children can improve your overall oral care.

•      Brush the teeth twice a day and preferably within 30-60 minutes after every meal and snack

•      Use fluoride-containing toothpaste

•      Floss daily

•      Use mouth rinse daily

•      Visit the dentist regularly for check-ups and cleanings.

For more information on how to improve your oral health, contact Dr. Anna & her team.

Healthy Eating for Adults

The foods you eat can help increase the health of your smile. While we all consume sugar or sweets sometimes, these few tips from Dr.Anna Lee can help improve your overall health and help you to keep all of your teeth.  

·      Avoid frequent snacking on sweets and sweet beverages between meals.

·      Sugar Substitutes and Sugar-Free products taste like sugar, but they don’t promote decay-causing acids that can cause tooth decay.

·      Chew sugarless gum- it stimulates the production of saliva and it prevents tooth decay.

·      Cheese stimulates the production of saliva.

”Sugar-Free products means that no sugar was added to the foods during processing,” says Dr. Lee, “but the foods may contain other natural sweeteners, such as honey, molasses, evaporated cane sugar, fructose, barley malt or rice syrup.”  These natural sweeteners contain the same number of calories as sugar and can be harmful to the teeth.

For more information on healthy eating contact Dr. Lee & her team today.