Losing Weight And Your Smile
The Link You Possibly Didn’t Know About Until Now!
Here at Abbey Road Dental, we support all of our patients in their endeavours to become healthier. The health trend in general seems to have taken the whole nation by storm, and it sure is a trend all healthcare professionals hope sticks around. Because of this surge in all things healthy, we wanted to give you a little heads up about a link between weight loss and your smile that you might not know about. A few links actually!
Believe it or not, losing weight can have all kinds of effects on your dental health. Of course, if your Abbey Road Dental dentist is aware of your lifestyle choice they can help ensure your smile is as healthy as possible. However, the more aware you are, the more being proactive you can be about all aspects of your health whilst you strive to lose weight. Here are some popular ways of losing weight and how they affect your dental health:
Low-Fat
A diet low in fat prevents the proper absorption of lots of different types of vitamins that rely on fat to help them to be absorbed into the body. Vitamin D is one of the vitamins you won’t absorb as effectively on a low fat diet which means that calcium cannot be absorbed properly either, as helping the body absorb calcium is Vitamin D’s job. Because of that, your bones and teeth may be negatively affected and may even degrade. There is also a risk of a higher sugar consumption which rots the teeth and causes cavities. This can be caused by the consumption of low-fat foods which compensate for the lower fat by including higher levels of sugar.
Low-Calorie
Cutting calories is often an essential part of losing weight, because of course, we gain weight through over-eating. However, cutting down calories too much can cause malnutrition which is never a good thing for your health! It can make you more susceptible to gum disease, to softened bones and to energy slumps which may make you more likely to crave high sugar hits which could damage your teeth if they occur too often.
Low-Carb
Low-carb diets can cause bad breath because fat is being burnt for energy instead of carbohydrates. A good level of dental hygiene, sugar-free chewing gum and drinking lots of water will help to freshen the breath. Consuming carbohydrates again though, is the only way you can get rid of this kind of bad breath.
Consuming Lots Of Fruit/ Juices
Consuming lots of fruit and fruit juices helps fill your body with vitamins, but it can be hard on the teeth because of the sugar and acid present. Enamel can suffer greatly with very high levels of fruit consumption.
Diet Pills
Diet pills can be full of all kinds of ‘nasties’ which wreak havoc on your health. We would never advocate diet pills bought online or from unknown sources. Even known brand diet pills though can cause problems with health. Some cause fat to not be absorbed at all which causes issues with vitamin absorption, as mentioned above. Others can cause issues like dry mouth which causes bad breath and makes you more susceptible to dental issues because of the lack of saliva which has an important role to play in dental health. Seek advice from your GP before taking these products.
Let Your St John’s Wood Dentist Know Which Diet You Are Following
It is advisable to let your GP know if you do plan on changing your diet drastically. With any type of weight loss plan, do let your NW8 dentist know so that we can look out for any signs that your health endeavours are affecting your teeth and gums. It is always better to spot problems early so that you can make an informed choice about your diet, and so we can help to treat any issues. Call us on 02076241603 and we will be delighted to book you an appointment at a suitable time.