Dental Anxiety Effects | Foods for Dental Health Care and Preventing Tooth Decay

Posted on February 13, 2010 by Salina in Oral Care

Dental Problems and Anxiety:

Research says that people who are always worried and anxious are predisposed to dental troubles and poor oral health.

1037 volunteers, in the age group of 15 to 32 years, participated in the clinical trial. It was the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development study. One fourth of the volunteers were identified to be dentally anxious. The subjects were divided in to 3 groups. The first group was stable anxious, i.e. they had always been dentally anxious. The second group was adolescent onset anxious, i.e., they developed dental anxiety after they became adolescents.

And the third group the adult onset anxious, i.e., they developed dental anxiety after reaching adulthood.

The research revealed that those in the stable anxious group had tooth decay at the age of 5 years. The adolescent onset group developed tooth decay at the age of 15 years, while the third group, the adult onset group, had tooth decay between years 26 and 32 years.

Good Dental Care:

  • The brushing technique ought to be right. A visit to the dentist will help you learn the right way of brushing that will be beneficial for your teeth.
  • Dentists and peri-odontologists recommend the using inter-dental brushes. They get rid of any food particle that is stuck in between 2 teeth. Additionally, they are gentler on the gums, and also carry a lesser risk of major damage to the dental tissue. Using dental floss is a critical part of maintaining good oral hygiene, since it eliminates and gets rid of decaying food particles and plaque the remaining stuck between our teeth. Plaque causes irritation of the gums, making gum tissue bleed easily. Certain acid forming food particles left within the oral cavity, also cause de-mineralization of the tooth, eventually resulting in the formation of cavities and caries. Flossing for an appropriate cleaning of inter-dental region is advocated once each day, if possible, before going to bed, to help check gum diseases, receding gums and cavities or caries between the teeth.
  • Tongue cleaning  is highly essential. It removes, a whitish – yellow coating of bacteria, fungi, decaying food remnants, along with dead cells, thus preventing bad breath. Cleaning the tongue regularly prevents the growth of certain bacteria which cause gum problems and may result in tooth decay.
  • Massaging the gums using the bristles of your toothbrush is recommended and helps maintain a good oral health.

Foods for Healthy Gums and Teeth:

  • Green Tea: This particularly prevents formation of plaque, and helps lower the chances of developing gum disease. These properties are attributed to the presence of polyphenols in the green tea.
  • Milk: Milk is very good for the teeth because it’s an alkaline food, which means that it reduces the damage caused to the teeth. Milk is a rich in calcium content, an integral and essential component of bones and teeth.
  • Vitamin C: Vitamin C or ascorbic acid is found in fruits namely lemons, oranges, apples, strawberries, gooseberries, Kiwis and papayas. This vitamin holds the cells together. a deficiency of the vitamin can cause damage to the gums which in turn makes them tender, inflamed and vulnerable to developing gum disease.

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