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Table of Contents

How much of a role does good nutrition play in saving you trips to the dentist? Here are all the nutrients that you should be including in your daily diet to keep your teeth, gums and other oral tissues healthy.

Vitamin B3

If you suffer from chronic ulcer formation, canker sores and other mucosal symptoms like a burning sensation when eating spicy food or the inability to tolerate too many temperature changes without feeling discomfort, then a deficiency of vitamin B3 could be one of the causes.

The development of bad breath has also been associated with a deficiency of vitamin B3, however the exact role that B3 plays in this process is debated. Include chicken and fish in your diet to improve your vitamin B3 levels.

Vitamins B12 And B2 

These vitamins also play an important role in the immune system's functioning and have a similar effect to vitamin B3 when it is absent from the diet. It is believed that the effectiveness of the cell junctions in the mucosal tissues is compromised due to the absence of these vitamins, leading to an increase in the number of pathogenic micro-organisms passing through into the tissues.

Omega 3 Fatty Acids

A lot of investigation is being done into the potential role this particular class of nutrients has on dental diseases. The interest generated is due to the demonstrated anti-inflammatory abilities of Omega 3 fatty acids, which could play a major role in reducing the amount of destruction that takes place in the presence of periodontal disease.

Some researchers believe that periodontal disease signifies and unwarranted and strong immune response to a small amount of plaque, and that most of the damage is actually caused by the body's own inflammatory response. Omega 3 fatty acids could be used to help reduce this "bystander" destruction.

Zinc

Zinc is a micro nutrient that once again plays a small but vital role in the immune system function of the body. Including zinc in your diet will help protect the body against soft tissue inflammation, periodontal disease and mouth ulcers.

Probiotics

While probiotics are not vitamins or minerals, their role in protecting the body against the development and progression of disease and even in the treatment of certain conditions is being investigated.

Probiotics are all about tweaking the microflora in your body, ensuring it is health-promoting one rather than a disease-promoting one. The thought of using probiotics to combat rapidly developing strains of drug resistant micro-organisms has many researchers excited.

Probiotics are currently being investigated as a dental-health tool to prevent and reduce the incidence of tooth decay, periodontal disease and combat persistent bad breath. It is a good idea to include a regular dose of probiotic rich food in your diet.

Conclusion

We all know that vitamins and minerals play an essential role in maintaining good health, however the exact role that they play in the body is difficult to ascertain because of ethical issues. After all, it would not be advisable to restrict the amount of nutrients available to a person just so that we can study the harmful effects of deficiencies. More important than knowing these minute details is, however, making sure that your diet includes all the major and minor nutrients so that you can give your body the best chance of fighting microbial insults.  

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