Strengthening dental health doesn’t always have to mean brushing your teeth or seeing your dentist. Did you know there are other, more entertaining ways to help your smile? One perfect example is going outside! That’s right, taking in the Great Outdoors is enough to make your teeth healthier. No bland rituals or costly treatments, just breathing in fresh air from the open sky. To learn more, here’s a summary of the outdoors’ positive effect on oral health from Frisco dentists.
Why Does Being Outside Help Oral Health?
Being outside boosts your oral health because it increases your sun exposure. More specifically, it exposes you to sunlight that helps your body produce vitamin D.
As it happens, vitamin D has several great benefits for oral health. Consider the three below:
It Protects You Against Tooth Decay
Several studies suggest a positive connection between vitamin D and tooth decay prevention. This fact may be due to how dentin has ‘guardian’ cells that only repair damaged dentin when the vitamin is present. In any event, it’s been shown that the substance can lower the risk of tooth decay by 50%.
It Supports Your Immune System
Vitamin D also plays a role in managing your immune system. In particular, it helps control how and which immune cells are formed. As a result, it can regulate and balance your immunity response to protect you from harmful microbes — germs, bacteria, infections, etc.
It Absorbs Calcium
Calcium can only be absorbed by the body thanks to vitamin D. In other words, you only get its effects when enough of said vitamin is in your system. When your vitamin D levels are low, you won’t be able to digest the calcium needed to protect and repair damaged teeth.
If you can, try staying outside for at least an hour or two; that’ll give you a great serving of vitamin D.
Other Ways to Boost Your Vitamin D
If it’s a rainy day or you’re just unable to get outside, there are other ways to boost your vitamin D levels. Consider eating one or more of the following foods:
- Fatty fish (i.e., salmon, tuna)
- Eggs
- Milk
- Fortified cereal
- Orange juice
- Yogurt
If you do it the right way, working toward oral health in Frisco can be fun. The fact that getting out helps you do so is proof!
About the Practice
Plush Dentistry is based in Frisco, Texas. As led by Drs. Ali and Kraipak, the practice promises patients an elevated dental experience. That said, it provides the best possible preventive, cosmetic, and restorative dentistry, not to mention emergency treatments. It’s also a certified provider of both Invisalign and ClearCorrect. To top it off, all of these services use the latest dental technology to ensure high quality. For more information or to book an appointment, reach them at their website or by phone at (469)-850-0786.