Why Water Is Crucial for Healthy Teeth

Do you know what the best drink for supporting healthy teeth is? You’d be forgiven if you thought the answer was milk. After all, there was a massive advertising campaign that promoted the benefits of drinking it. Still, milk isn’t the answer. The correct answer is a different drink: water.

Hydration

The most obvious benefit of drinking water is the hydration it provides. Hydration isn’t just good for your skin. It’s also good for your teeth. When you are properly hydrated, you are better able to produce saliva. Regular, adequate saliva production protects the teeth. It reduces your risk of developing dry mouth. Dry mouth is a condition where plaque builds up because there isn’t enough saliva. Given that saliva helps neutralize, and helps keep the teeth and gums clean, and contains minerals that can help strengthen your enamel, it’s definitely a good idea to drink enough water to support saliva production.

Strength

Water can be a valuable source of minerals that are extremely helpful in strengthening the teeth. Fluoride, in particular, can be found in tap water in some areas. This mineral can play a key role in re-mineralizing enamel, protecting your teeth and keeping them strong. Not all water has fluoride though. If your water is filtered, bottled, distilled, or through reverse osmosis, you aren’t going to get much in the way of strengthening minerals, if any at all. In that case, see your dentist about getting fluoride supplements to keep your teeth strong.

Cleansing

Saliva isn’t the only way to cleanse your teeth. Drinking water in and of itself can be cleansing for your teeth and gums. It’s no replacement for brushing and flossing, but the very act of drinking water can help rinse away food particles and bacteria. Like saliva, drinking water helps dilute the acids found in different foods and drinks. Protect your teeth by washing meals, snacks, and other drinks with a healthy glass of water.

When you stop to think about how important water is to your overall health, it may not be much of a surprise that it’s arguably the best drink there is to support healthy teeth as well. If you ever needed another reason to drink plenty of water every day, now you have it. There really isn’t any part of you that doesn’t benefit from consuming a healthy amount of water.

Fluoride is sometimes found in tap water and is also beneficial to the teeth. Learn more about giving your child fluoride here.