When it’s time to hydrate throughout the day, what’s your beverage of choice? If you frequently reach for soda, tea, or anything other than pure, clean H2O, your dentist in Ormond Beach wants you to rethink your drink. Tap water is free, plentiful, and — in our part of the state — it contains a secret ingredient for positive oral health: fluoride. Keep reading to learn about the many benefits of drinking water in this week’s blog post.
Many Benefits of Water
Why drink water? It’s simple: it’s good for your oral and overall health. A healthy mouth is a well-hydrated one, as your saliva naturally washes away the food particles, acids, and bacteria that collect on your teeth and gums throughout the day. Your mouth needs plenty of fluids to produce enough saliva.
Some of the many good things that happen in your mouth when you drink enough water include:
- Fresher breath
- Cleaner teeth and gums
- Reduced plaque buildup
- Lower risk of cavities and gum disease
How Much Water to Drink
For years the conventional wisdom was to drink 8 glasses of water a day. Now, though, the recommendation is simpler — to drink when you’re thirsty. For a lot of people, that ends up being about 8 glasses of water each day anyway.
People who suffer from dry mouth need to drink even more bottled water. Dry mouth is a side effect of many medications. Smoking and tobacco use are also commonly associated with reduced saliva production and related oral health problems.
Tap or Bottled? What About Bubbles?
Does it matter whether you drink tap or bottled water? Not really — but one of the great things about tap water is that it’s free, widely available, and also contains fluoride, the mineral that is well-known for remineralizing the teeth to protect your smile from damaging acids and bacteria. You can find bottled water that contains fluoride to enjoy the same benefits.
Soda water is also booming in popularity across the US, and while it can make a nice refreshing treat in the afternoon, we advise against rehydrating with carbonation throughout the day. Fizzy drinks (even sugar-free ones) throw the pH balance of your mouth off and weaken your tooth enamel. To get all the fantastic benefits of water, choose still.
Make H2O Part of Your Routine!
When it comes down to it, drinking water is a habit. If you have a hard time remembering to hydrate throughout the day (and many adults do), invest in a reusable water bottle that you can fill up again and again with tap or filtered water — for the good of your oral and overall health!
About the Authors
Dr. Andrew Nawrocki and Dr. David Brown are experts in restorative and cosmetic dentistry. To learn more about how making small changes in your daily routine — like drinking water — can impact your oral health, you are invited to contact their office at 386-677-1046.