Drinking Water is Good for Your Teeth

Water is one of the most plentiful elements in the human body, and it is one of the most important. In fact, an adult human body is 60% water. As a major component of every cell and the basis of all body fluids, water is vital for the proper function of tissues, organs, and even your teeth. Water helps distribute essential vitamins and nutrients to our cells and organs, for example, and it helps flush unhealthy byproducts and germs from our bodies. While you may not realize it, drinking water provides a number of benefits for your oral health.

Water Supports Your Oral Health

Water cleanses your mouth

Bits of food can find their way into the nooks and crannies between your teeth. This food debris can combine with bacteria to create plaque, which is a thin, sticky film that can build up on your teeth. Left in place, accumulating plaque can harden into a yellow or brown colored deposit, known as tartar. While plaque is relatively easy to remove with regular brushing and flossing, tartar stubbornly adheres to the surface of your teeth. In time, tartar can cause severe gum disease, tooth decay, and even tooth loss. Drinking water flushes out the left-behind food and bacteria that can get stuck in your mouth.

Drink fluoridated water

Many municipalities add fluoride to their water to improve the oral health of their residents. Fluoride helps reduce demineralization, or the loss of minerals that keeps your tooth enamel strong. As an added bonus, the fluoridated water safely distributed in our tap water can also clean your teeth – with no extra effort on your part. While drinking water is not a substitute for brushing and flossing twice daily, it can certainly keep your mouth much cleaner throughout the day.

Water is Extremely Healthy for Your Entire Body

Compared with other juices, alcoholic beverages and coffee, water is extremely healthy. Water does not contain the sugar that the cavity-causing bacteria in your mouth consume, for example, and it does not have any of the staining components of those other drinks.

Water is essential for life. Drinking more of it will provide a wide variety of health benefits for your entire body. These health benefits include:

• Preventing migraines and other types of headaches triggered by dehydration
• Speeding healing from illness or injury by thinning blood, which makes it easier for blood to transport oxygen and nutrients used in the healing processes
• Regulating body temperature by cooling your body internally and preventing dehydration, which can increase your body temperature
• Regulating appetite – water takes up space in your stomach to create a feeling of fullness and suppress hunger; as an added bonus, water contains zero calories
• Improve hydration to improve overall health; dehydration can lead to a loss of strength and stamina, and increase your risk for heat injury and other health issues
• Supporting mood and brain function by increasing blood flow, and the delivery of oxygen and nutrients, to your brain
• Boosting metabolism and helping with weight loss

Water Promotes a Healthier Wellbeing

Water is essential for nearly every cell in our bodies and almost every biological process. Weighing in at zero calories, water is diet-friendly and easy to consume. Water lubricates your teeth, tongue, and other oral tissues to combat dry mouth. Drinking water also helps the glands in your mouth to produce saliva, which naturally lubricates and cleanses your mouth.

When compared with other beverages, water is the only drink that has no negative effects, and provides only positive health benefits for your teeth.

To make an appointment or want to know more about Williams, Daily & Frazier Dental, contact us.