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Four Reasons to Drink Water for Your Dental Health
We are watery creatures.
Your body is more than half water. That’s right. Our bodies are made of 60% water. Maintaining that healthy level of hydration helps distribute the nutrients your body uses as fuel, eliminates waste, gives your skin a healthy glow, and prevents excess lactic acid from accumulating in your muscles. And drinking plenty of water is also self-administered dental care.
1. Drinking fluoridated water keeps cavities at bay
Fluoride is a mineral that is widely, and accurately, known as nature’s cavity fighter. Drinking lots of fluoridated water is one of the easiest and most beneficial things you can do to avoid cavities and keep your teeth healthy.
While there is some lingering controversy about the use of fluoride in drinking water, fluoridation is endorsed by the American Medical Association, the American Dental Association, and the Centers for Disease Control. In fact, the CDC lists fluoridation as one of the 10 most important public health measures of the 20th century.
2. Drinking water helps keep your mouth clean
Drinking water can’t replace brushing and flossing as the standard tools of oral hygiene. But drinking water does rinse away the sorts of residual materials that cavity-causing bacteria thrive on. If those bacteria are allowed to remain in your mouth, they will turn leftover food particles into acid that erodes the enamel that makes up the hard outer shell of your teeth.
Plaque won’t build up in a clean, hydrated mouth. Drinking a glass of pure water will cleanse the varieties of bacteria that cause cavities and contribute to bad breath and gum disease.
3. Drinking water can remedy a dry mouth
Saliva, which is 99% water, is the first line of defense against cavities. It helps wash away leftover food and harmful bacteria and facilitates swallowing. Saliva also keeps your teeth strong by constantly coating them with microscopic traces of calcium, phosphate, and fluoride.
Lack of saliva, i.e. dry mouth, can heighten the risk of tooth decay, impair your oral health, and make it harder to chew and swallow. Drinking enough water will result in sufficient saliva production to avoid dry mouth.
4. Water has no calories
This point may not be directly related to your teeth, but it’s so important that it merits inclusion anyway. The rising consumption of sugary drinks has been a major contributor to a corresponding rise in obesity in the United States.
People who consume one or two sugary beverages per day are 26% more likely to develop type 2 diabetes. You can avoid that unwanted sugar by simply substituting glasses of water for cola, sugary juice, or a so-called “sports drink”.
Save money, your tooth health, and the planet. Drink tap water
Many people ask “is tap water safe to drink?” Thanks to the federal law known as the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), community water supplies are stringently regulated.
Protecting America’s drinking water is a top priority for the Environmental Protection Agency, which is charged with enforcing the provisions of the SDWA. That law establishes protective drinking water standards for more than 90 contaminants. It also mandates the inclusion of fluoride and other beneficial trace minerals in ordinary tap water.
Over 92% of the population supplied by community water systems receive drinking water that meets all health-based standards all of the time.
Americans spend billions of dollars on drinking water in plastic bottles
Those bottles litter the planet and contain water that is often less healthy than tap water. In 2020, consumption of bottled water in the United States amounted to about 45.2 gallons per person. Americans spent over $3.2 billion for that water in bottles.
This represents a significant increase over the last couple of decades in the consumption of bottled water.
A lot of negative attention has been rightfully aimed at the environmental hazards caused by disposable water bottles. But far less attention has been focused on the contents of those bottles. That’s partly because about 70% of the bottled water sold in the United States is not subject to Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulation.
Bottled water that is sold in the same state where it is “manufactured” evades FDA scrutiny. So, tap water must comply with the rigorous requirements of the SDWA, while locally bottled water is subject only to whatever requirements, whether strict or lax, might be imposed by the state.
The purity of bottled water is not the primary issue. But the highly touted “purity” of bottled water is a problem in and of itself. Bottled water rarely contains fluoride, nor does it contain the traces of essential minerals that restore and strengthen tooth enamel.
Consider switching back to tap water
It’s a puzzling fact that millions upon millions of Americans spend 300 to 400 times more to buy water in a bottle. After all, good water is available a few steps away, at the kitchen sink, and at a tiny fraction of bottled water’s cost.
Why MD Periodontics should be your Los Angeles periodontists
Two of the most trusted and respected periodontists and holistic dentists in Southern California comprise the board-certified husband and wife team of Dr. Abdy Moshrefi, DDS, and Dr. Nazanin Daneshmand, DDS.
At our beautiful Beverly Hills offices, MD Periodontics offers patients the best periodontic treatment that Los Angeles has to offer. Our holistic approach to dentistry ensures that the treatment you receive will utilize the least toxic materials available, the most advanced technology, and amenities including aromatherapy to minimize discomfort and stress during procedures. You’ll experience a supportive atmosphere you would never expect to find at a dental office and results that you will love.
To schedule a consultation, click here or call us at (310) 859-9449. Your smile will thank you!
We are conveniently located to patients throughout the metropolitan Los Angeles area. Our board-certified periodontists and implant dentistry experts are available at locations in or near Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, West Los Angeles, Culver City, West Hollywood, Downtown Los Angeles, Marina del Rey, Pacific Palisades, Malibu, Manhattan Beach, Sherman Oaks, and Encino.
At MD Periodontics we take our patients’ safety very seriously. That’s why our facility’s Covid-19 patient safety procedures far exceed all CDC coronavirus recommendations. Masks are required in our institutes at all times.
Dr. Moshrefi, a board-certified periodontist, graduated from UCLA in 1995 with Phi Beta Kappa and Magma Cum Laude honors. He graduated from USC’s Dental School in 2002 with a doctoral and specialty training in Periodontics and has a Master of Science degree in craniofacial biology.
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