Healthy Eating Means Healthy Teeth And Better Diabetes Care

You know how vital good nutrition is for your blood sugar control. It’s also important for good dental health. In fact, the more attention you pay to healthy eating the more you lower your risk of developing oral health problems such as gum disease that can interfere with your diabetes control.

Here’s something that a lot of people don’t know, yet it’s an easy way to prevent a build-up of dental plaques that can lead to real trouble for your blood sugar levels. When you eat a full meal you also produce more saliva, which is important in several ways. First, it helps wash away tiny food particles that otherwise would provide a great food source for oral bacteria. It also reduces the effects of acids in your mouth, both the acids from food and drink, and the acids produced by oral bacteria as they metabolize the sugars in your mouth. Saliva also delivers minerals to your teeth, enabling them to restore surface enamel that gets eroded by acid.

When you snack, there’s less saliva which means more opportunities for oral bacteria and acids to attack your teeth and gums. If you need a snack think in terms of raw veggies, fruits, cheese and yogurt as generally healthy alternatives, both in terms of oral health and blood sugar count.

Good nutrition helps prevent oral health problems, which is important in diabetes care because of the connections between high blood sugar symptoms and gum disease. Dentistry For Diabetics^SM dentists are trained in understanding the links between these two conditions. Follow this link to find a Dentistry For Diabetics^SM dentist near you who knows how to lower blood sugar with appropriate dental care.