DENTAL DILEMMAS – Dr Karim Rachidi from Synergy Dental Clinics helps with advice on dental problems

Q. What foods can I eat to keep my teeth and gums healthy?

A. It might not be the first thing that comes to mind but the difference between having healthy gums and a picture perfect smile could be your diet. Even if your dental hygiene is of a high standard, not watching what you eat can make it difficult to keep your teeth healthy and up to a good standard.

Our teeth are important. That’s why the majority of us like to take such good care of them by brushing them thoroughly twice a day, flossing and using mouthwash. Even though we like to take such good care of our mouths, tooth decay and gum disease seem to be some of the most common diseases affecting many of us.

It’s often quite easy to overlook the fact that what foods we eat are important to how good our overall oral health can be. But it doesn’t have to be that way, as there are many types of foods out there that you may not be aware of that not only cause minimal damage to your teeth but can provide a huge improvement to your oral health.

Therefore eating foods that are rich in calcium, vitamin D and vitamin C can help to keep your teeth and gums healthy. Better still, these foods can be found quite easily in the supermarkets. Food items like yoghurt, cheese and low-fat milk are rich in calcium. Fruit and vegetables such as oranges, kiwi, strawberries, broccoli and kale are very good sources of vitamin C whilst fish, cod liver oil and egg yolk are great sources of vitamin D.

For more information about dental problems contact Synergy Dental

Clinic Blackburn, email blackburn@synergydental.org.uk or go to www.synergydental.org.uk/dentist-in-blackburn