This post is about how to get strong teeth naturally.
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Maybe you chipped a tooth, realized it was super expensive to repair it and want to avoid such costs in the future. Maybe you’ve noticed that your teeth are extra sensitive and would benefit from some extra care. Or maybe you just want to improve your teeth out of preventative care! Whatever the reason, you want to get strong teeth naturally.
Strong teeth are not only important for the confidence of having a beautiful smile, but they are important for digesting food, maintaining facial structure and even for speech. It’s important to take great care for your teeth as they need to be resilient your whole life! Otherwise, there could be a lot of trips to the dentist. Of course you can prevent those unnecessary costs, if you make sure to take care of your teeth properly.
Strong teeth are also desirable because it prevents decay and cavities, reduces sensitivity and simply looks healthy and beautiful! This post will not go into detail about the basics, like brushing your teeth twice a day and floss. However, that’s also very important and you can read about it in this blog post: How to get beautiful and healthy teeth.
If you already know the basics, and want to know more about how to get strong teeth naturally, then keep on reading!
Tooth strength and enamel health
To be able to understand what makes teeth strong, we need to know a little bit about the anatomy of a tooth. A tooth is made up of four main layers: the outermost enamel, the next layer dentin, cementum which covers the tooth root and the most inner root: the pulp.
The outermost layer, the enamel, is the hardest tissue in the whole body and its function is to protect the inside of the tooth. It consists of 96% minerals, a combination called hydroxyapatite, which is what makes it so hard and also white. Because the enamel is what protects your teeth, it’s necessary that it is strong and healthy.
What causes weak teeth?
So what actually causes weak teeth? Because strong enamel is what protects the teeth, a weak enamel is what makes teeth weak. So actually the question is: what causes weak enamel?
The thing that can break down enamel are acids. Acids can dissolve the minerals in the enamel, thus making it weaker. Acids can come from food and drinks you eat, but also from bad bacteria producing acid in your mouth. Sugar is one of the thing that feeds bad bacteria, and therefore something that should be avoided to get strong teeth.
Another thing that can weaken your enamel is if you are deficient in minerals. As the enamel consists of minerals, your body can draw them out of the teeth and prioritize them elsewhere. For example: to growing or healing bones.
So basically to avoid breakdown of the enamel of your teeth, you will need to avoid acid from food, keep away bad bacteria in your mouth and make sure you eat and absorb enough minerals through your diet.
5 things to not do:
1. Don’t brush immediately after eating
When you have just finished eating, your enamel is weakened because of the acids naturally present in food. You should never brush your teeth directly after eating, as you will brush away the already weakened enamel. Instead, wait 30-60 minutes so your enamel has the chance to stabilize itself before you brush.
2. Never use your teeth as tools
This may go as an obvious one, but the last thing you want to do is damage your teeth because you tried to open something with them. For example: plastic packages, bottles (
), pistachios or trying to tear through a thread, tape or sales tag. Avoid using your teeth like a tool to prevent damage that could easily have been avoided if you weren’t lazy enough to get some scissors or bottle opener 😉 .
3. Don’t bite down on hard objects
It happens that we mindlessly bite down on pencils when we are thinking, on bobby pins while trying to arrange our hair, on nails or needles when we are creative with something and don’t have enough hands! Don’t do that, as it causes unnecessary damage to the teeth that can build up over time. You should also be extra mindful when you are eating hard foods. Such as pitted olives, pistachios, cherries, meat with bones or seafood shells. A piece of my teeth actually chipped off when I accidentally bit down on an unpopped popcorn kernel once!
4. Don’t smoke or use tobacco products
If you want strong teeth and healthy gums you should definitely not smoke or use any type of tobacco products. Smoking increases bacteria, plaque and tartar build up on the teeth and also increases the risk of gum disease. By the way, this also goes for vapes. An easy way to prevent tooth decay is to just not do it.
5. Don’t avoid going to the dentist
You should never avoid going to the dentist when there’s a real problem going on. Also regular check ups are important, so you can discover potential problems in time and do something about them before it is too late. Dentists are the professionals after all!
10 Ways to get Strong Teeth Naturally
Now that we know what not to do, we can start on focusing on the things we can do to strengthen the enamel naturally!
1. Support mineralisation of your teeth
This is the most significant tip of the entire list and all the other tips will have something to do with this as well: Support mineralisation of your teeth. Your teeth will mineralise without you needing to do something specific, but of course we can help to promote the natural process already going on!
Your teeth enamel remineralises itself with minerals, primarily with calcium and phosphate. This process is crucial to repair tooth enamel from everyday use and minor damage. Therefore, you need to make sure that there are minerals present to be able to deposit into the enamel, and that your mouth is in a neutral pH state to be able to do so.
An active step you can take is to use a remineralising toothpaste, containing non-toxic remineralising ingredients like hydroxyapatite, xylitol and calcium phosphate.
✧ Toothpaste with hydroxyapatite: Biomed Toothpaste Calcimax
2. Eat food high in minerals and fat soluble vitamins
One of the best things you can do to get stronger teeth naturally is to eat a varied and nutrient rich diet. Focus on eating nutrient rich foods, especially foods rich in minerals (like calcium and phosphorus) and fat soluble vitamins (A & D), as they are really important for building up the enamel and promote healthy oral health.
Some examples of the most nutrient dense and mineral rich foods are dark green leafy greens, organ meats, sea food, eggs, beef and dairy products. Food that contain a lot of fat soluble vitamins are egg yolk, liver, dairy products, dark leafy greens, carrots, cabbage and cauliflower.
3. Avoid acidic and high sugar food
An important thing you can do to prevent enamel weakening is to avoid acidic and high sugar foods. Acid from food breaks down the enamel and sugar feeds bad bacteria that then in turn excrete acid.
Some examples of foods high in sugar and acids are candy, chocolate, sugary drinks, carbonated drinks, citrus fruits, coffee, pickled food and starchy food that easily gets stuck between teeth. If you do eat acidic or sugary foods, be sure to rinse your mouth with water or even water with a little bit of baking soda afterwards to flush out or neutralize any acids left in your mouth. As baking soda is alkaline, it will help neutralize acidity.
4. Don’t snack or sip all day long
Don’t snack or sip on food or beverages all day. When you do, you are not giving your enamel a break to remineralize itself via the saliva. The best time to have a sugary snack is directly after your meal. Both to avoid blood sugar spikes and further demineralization of the teeth. Limit your snacking and eat your sweets after meals to limit making your mouth acidic multiple times a day. This way your saliva has a chance to remineralize your teeth longer and better, leading to stronger teeth naturally.
5. Work on your gut health
To get strong teeth naturally, it is super important to have a healthy gut. This is needed to actually be able to absorb all the minerals and vitamins from what you eat. If you can’t absorb minerals and fat soluble vitamins, than it doesn’t matter how much you eat them. Some things you can do to promote your gut health is to chew your food thoroughly, eat probiotic rich foods, eat enough fiber, limit your intake of overly processed foods and lower your stress levels.
6. Use mouth rinses after eating
Mouth rinses are a great way to strengthen your teeth naturally. The best time to use them is directly after eating and before going to bed. However, regular mouth washes are often super strong and contain harsh ingredients, like alcohol, that dry out the mouth. This is disruptive to the natural oral microbiome. Instead, use gentler mouth rinses with natural antibacterial essential oils and baking soda. The antibacterial essential oils will prevent bad bacteria in your mouth and leave you with a fresh breath, while baking soda neutralizes any left over acids!
7. Clean your mouth really well
This step is actually part of the basics of getting strong teeth naturally. A clean mouth prevents bad bacteria, plaque and tartar from forming and teeth from decaying! We should be brushing two times a day, floss daily and rinse our mouth after eating. Some additional things you could do is use a tongue scraper and do regular oil pulling. You can read more about these practices and their benefits in this blog post: How to get beautiful and healthy teeth.
8. Increase saliva production
Saliva in our mouth protect the teeth naturally. Saliva is able to remineralise the enamel because it contains some of the minerals, like calcium and phosphate, which build up the enamel. It also helps to neutralize the mouth from acids and flush away left over food particles. Some ways to increase saliva production in your mouth is to stay hydrated (so drink enough water during the day), using a salt toothpaste (here is my favorite) and chew on gum, without sugar and with xylitol, which has shown to be beneficial for the teeth.
9. Keep stress levels low
This is actually a really important step to get strong teeth naturally. Stress is not great for our health and neither for our teeth. A lot of stress can lead to teeth grinding at night, clenching your jaw and teeth together and nail biting. Neither of these activities are good for our teeth, and can seriously harm them especially if you do it long term! You may not even be aware that you’re doing it.
This makes keeping stress levels down a must. You can lower stress in infinite many ways, it all depends on your personal preferences. You could practice mindfulness, go outside into nature, read a book or be creative. Here is a post about how to stay grounded in stressful times if you want more inspiration on how to de-stress!
10. Promote a healthy oral microbiome
Did you know that our mouth actually has it’s own microbiome? Just as our gut and our skin! We can promote a healthy mouth microbiome by avoiding disrupting ingredients (like alcohol and SLS), eating probiotic rich foods or even take a probiotic supplement.
Furthermore it is good to avoid tobacco products, not over consume alcohol, not use extremely strong mouth washes and not use undiluted essential oils in the mouth. Also all the rest of the tips on this list will naturally help you promote a healthy oral microbiome!
Last thoughts on How to get Strong Teeth Naturally
If you implement these tips, you’ll notice stronger teeth over time. Some signs that you are getting stronger teeth naturally are:
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- you experience less sensitivity
- your teeth get whiter (because your enamel gets thicker)
- you have way less or no cavities
I hope this post was informative and will help you create your own perfect dental routine so those pearly whites will be strong for a lifetime!
By Bo Smit
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