Vitamin C

Eat Right for Dental Health During Braces

September 29th, 2015

IT’S IMPORTANT TO EAT RIGHT to maintain the oral health of your teeth and gums. This is especially true during braces.

Eating Right Helps Fend Off Plaque, Gingivitis, And Periodontal Disease

A healthy diet will maintain healthy tooth enamel and prevent the formation of plaque, white spot lesions, and tooth decay. Eating the right nutritious foods will produce strong and healthy gums, and will help prevent gingivitis and gum disease.

Foods to avoid to maintain tooth and gum health include acidic drinks with lemon, soda, and candy. These can damage and erode your enamel making you prone to tooth sensitivity, decalcification, and cavities. Potato chips and cookies can contribute to tooth plaque. Be sure to brush and floss at least twice per day to prevent the unwanted dental effects of these and other foods.

“Super-Smile” Foods That May Surprise You

Healthy and nutritious foods for teeth and gums include those rich in calcium and vitamin D. Here is a list of foods considered extremely healthy for your teeth:

  1. Salmon- increases calcium absorption
  2. Broccoli- reduces acid erosion
  3. Onions- reduce bacteria
  4. Celery- massages gums, cleans teeth, produces saliva
  5. Apples- prevent plaque
  6. Kiwi- vitamin C rich to increase collegen for gums
  7. Paprika- high concentration of Vitamin C for gums
  8. Jello- collagen for healthy gums
  9. Carrots- prevent plaque
  10. Quinoa- contains vitamins and minerals
  11. Shiitaki Mushrooms- prevent mouth bacterial growth
  12. Sesame Seeds- clear plaque and supply calcium
  13. Milk- rich in calcium and vitamin D for strong bones and teeth

Check Out These Awesome Recipe Books

For healthy and brace friendly recipes, check out the cook books by Pamela Waterman.

If you would like to learn more about healthy and nutritious foods and recipes you can enjoy during braces, visit us at Gorczyca Orthodontics in Antioch, CA. You can find us at www.clubbraces.com or call us at (925) 757-9000.

We wish you happy and healthy cooking and delicious foods during your braces. Eat right for a gorgeous smile.

Bleeding Gums, Paprika, and the Discovery of Vitamin C

September 23rd, 2015

"Life is a wondrous phenomenon. I can only hope that some day man will achieve a deeper insight into its nature and its guiding principles and will be able to express them in more exact terms...To express the marvels of nature in the language of science is one of man's noblest endeavors."
-Dr. Albert Szent-Gyorgyi

FOR CENTURIES, scurvy plagued sailors, pirates, and others aboard ships at sea longer than perishable raw fruits and vegetables could be stored. The signs and symptoms of survey include bleeding gums, gum disease, loosening of teeth, as well as skin and wound healing changes. It is estimated that between the years 1500 to 1800 at least two million sailors died of scurvy. Scurvy can still be found as a severe sign of malnutrition today.

A Brief History of the Discovery of Vitamin C

In 1742, scurvy was finally eradicated from the Royal Navy when fresh lemons were implemented. Soon a concentrated drink, Rose's lime juice, became a requirement of all ships, hence the term "limey", first for British sailors, then for English immigrants, and finally, in old American slang, for British people.

Bleeding gums can be an early sign of malnutrition or a poor diet which excludes uncooked fresh fruits and vegetables. In the late 1960s, a study of Iowa state prisoner "volunteers" discovered that the first signs of scurvy from a vitamin-C deficient diet would occur in as little as four weeks.

Although orange juice and lemon juice had high levels of vitamin C, they contained sugars that made purification of this important nutritional agent extremely difficult. It wasn't until scientist Dr. Albert Szent-Gyorgyi was eating dinner in the Paprika capital of the world, Szeged, Hungary, that the agent of Vitamin C was discovered. In guinea pigs, he had been looking for an anti-scorbutic agent for scorbutus, latin for scurvy, induced by a totally cooked food diet. His wife served him fresh red paprika. "I did not feel like eating. Suddenly it occurred to me that this...I had never tested. I took the paprika to the laboratory...about midnight I knew that it was a treasure chest of vitamin C." His ascorbic acid from paprika when fed to the scurvy guinea pigs cured them. It was the equivalent to vitamin C.

A “Nobel” Effort

In 1937, just four year after his paprika ascorbic acid identification of vitamin C, Szent-Gyorgyi received the Nobel Prize for his seminal work. He immigrated to the United States in 1947 where he worked at the Institute of Muscle Research at Woods Hole, Massachusetts. He died in 1986.

Ann Marie Gorczyca, D.M.D., M.P.H., M.S.
Gorczyca Orthodontics, Antioch, California
www.clubbraces.com

More Topics
diplomate american board of orthodontics Edward H. Angle Society of Orthodontists advanced education in orthdontics
member american association of orthodontists seattle study club american dental association california dental association
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