Four Summertime Super Foods - Bon Appetit!

Four Super Foods to Enjoy this Summer!

Mangoes - About a cup of mangoes supplies 100% of your Vitamin C, 1/3 of your Vitamin A, a decent dose of blood-pressure lowering potassium and 3 grams of fiber.  Bonus: Mangoes are one of the fruits least likely to have pesticide residue.

Unsweetened Greek Yogurt - Non-fat, plain Greek yogurt has a pleasant tartness that's the perfect complement to berries, bananas or your favorite breakfast cereal.  It's strained, so even the fat-free versions are thick and and creamy and has twice the protein of ordinary yogurt... about 18 grams in 6 oz.

Butternut Squash - You can buy diced, peeled butternut squash at your supermarket, making it easy to go into the oven (roasted), a stir-fry or soup.  It's an easy way to load up on Vitamins A, C and fiber.

Watermelon - Summer wouldn't be summer without sweet watermelon! It's a healthy dose of potassium and lycopene in a salt-free, fat-free snack for only 85 calories... and good Vitamin A and C.  Often, watermelon are grown locally so they have a smaller carbon footprint (don't have to travel far).

Let’s Talk about Fluoride!

Nearly all naturally occurring water sources contain fluoride - a compound that has been proven to prevent, and even reverse, tooth decay. 

Cavities are caused by certain bacteria in the mouth. When a person eats sugar and other refined carbohydrates, these bacteria produce acid that removes minerals from the surface of the tooth. Fluoride helps to re-mineralize tooth surfaces and prevents cavities from continuing to form.

There are many benefits of fluoride for almost every patient.  Here are some of our favorites:

· Fluoride strengthens teeth and reduces cavities.  It is effective systemically and topically.

· Community water fluoridation is the single most effective public health measure to prevent cavities, and is the most efficient to prevent one of the most common childhood diseases -  dental decay. (5 times more common than asthma and 7 times more common than hay fever in 5 - 17 year olds.)

· Simply by drinking tap water, people can benefit from cavity protection whether they are at home, work or school.  And it’s cheaper than buying bottled water.

· Dry mouth syndrome, caused by many medications, decreases the amount of saliva produced and can make an individual more prone to cavities.

· As people age, manual dexterity often times does not allow for optimal brushing habits and their sense of taste craves more sweet, sugary foods, which in turn produces more cavity-causing bacteria.

· If there is patient history of frequent cavities, this is a big help!

We offer several types of fluoride treatments.  Our preferences are fluoride varnish, applied after your regular hygiene appointment, MI Paste Plus, a take-home fluoride product that re-mineralizes teeth or we offer different prescription-strength fluoride toothpastes.  Ask for them at your next visit!