Diet not only affects your health, but it directly affects your dental health.  You have learned as a child to brush twice a day and especially after you eat sugar.  However, you diet even affects how well your mouth can fight off other diseases and tooth decay.  Hence, you should brush your teeth and maintain a healthy diet for the best dental health possible.

Your body is a very complicated organism that can be compared to a complex machine.  When you eat, you are fueling your body and this affects your general health and specifically the health of your gum and teeth.  Dentists are concerned about the amount of sugar-filled items that Americans consume on a regular basis.  These items include sodas, sweetened fruit drinks, and a number of non-nutritious snacks that affect the teeth.  These snacks not only add no nutritional value to the body or mouth but they can also take a toll on your teeth.

Diet and the eating patterns among children and early teens are important factors that directly affect the speed of how quickly youth develop tooth decay.  When bacteria, known as plaque, come into contact with sugar, they produce acid.  The acid is potent for 20 minutes or more and this can eventually result in tooth decay.

Most food contains some sugar to include milk and vegetables.  All foods that contain sugar can contribute to tooth decay.  You can't avoid eating all sugar and some level of sugar is needed for your body to function properly.  You should not even try to remove them because many of them contain important nutrients.  

Additionally, you probably enjoy eating these foods.  However, the amount of these sugared foods should be controlled and moderated.  You can read the labels on most foods to get a better understanding of the amount of sugar you are consuming.  This will help you choose foods and beverages that are lower in added sugars.  You will also be able to recognize and limit the food that are low in nutrient value and high in sugar like soft drinks, candy, cookies and pastries.

In addition to tooth decay, your diet directly affects the ability of the tissues in your mouth to fight and resist infection.  These infections can contribute to periodontal disease which is a major cause of tooth loss in adults.  Poor nutrition does not cause periodontal disease directly, but many dental experts believes the disease progresses faster and can even be more severe in people that do not eat and receive healthy nutrients in their diets.

So, what can you do to increase your dental health?  First, you will want to maintain a healthy diet.  Drink more water and limit the amount of sugared drinks.  You may want to keep and food journal for a week.  Record everything that you consume for a week to include all snacks and drinks.  This will show you exactly what you consume and may be an eye opener for you.

Limit the number of snacks between meals.  When you do need a snack, try nutritious foods low in sugar like vegetables.  Make sure you brush twice daily with a fluoride toothpaste.  If you have sugared snacks you may want to brush right after consuming these in order to limit the amount of acid in your mouth.

In summary, your diet directly affects your dental health.  When you eat healthy and low sugared foods your body and mouth have the right nutrients to fight infections and tooth decay.  You must give your body the right nutrients to stay healthy and to reduce the amount of tooth decay.