27 Nov Why Green Tea Is Good for Your Teeth
The antioxidants in green tea promote good dental health in several different ways. It won’t stain your teeth like coffee, it helps prevent cavities, and it can even give you fresher breath. Here’s why green tea is so good for your teeth.
The Power of Green Tea for Good Dental Health
Research continues to prove that green tea promotes good dental health by preventing cavities and gum disease. Green tea contains powerful antioxidants called polyphenols that stunt the growth of bacteria, including the bacteria that create plaque.
Not only do the antioxidants in green tea keep plaque from building up, they also prevent it from sticking to your teeth and turning into tartar. This helps prevent the acid attacks from plaque that erode your tooth enamel and cause cavities.
The antioxidants in green tea have also been proven to prevent inflammation, which is great news for your gums. Gum disease is an inflammatory condition that’s triggered by acid attacks from plaque. So green tea fights gum disease on two fronts—by preventing plaque buildup and relieving inflammation.
Green tea can even give you fresher breath, because it reduces the number of sulfur-producing bacteria in your mouth. In fact, the antioxidants in green tea have amazing health benefits for the rest of your body, too.
Even though it’s technically a beverage, green tea is classified as a superfood because of its powerful antioxidants. Besides polyphenols, it also contains catechins, a group of antioxidants that protect against cell damage and work to prevent many types of cancer.
Coffee vs. Green Tea
If you’re a coffee drinker, you might want to consider making a switch. Although it has less caffeine than coffee (about half as much) green tea still gives you the energy boost you crave. It can help you concentrate and stay focused without the post-coffee jitters. Plus, it won’t stain your teeth the way that coffee does.
Why does coffee stain teeth and not green tea? Well, it’s partly the tannins and partly the high acidity of coffee that makes it stain your teeth so easily. The acid weakens your tooth enamel, making it easier for the tooth-staining tannins to seep in.
Green tea is far less acidic than black tea or coffee, and has fewer tannins, so there’s less chance of stains. Although drinking a lot of green tea could still cause stains over time, they’ll be lighter and much easier to remove than coffee stains.
Think about it this way: what would you rather have spilt on your favorite rug, coffee or green tea? Daily brushing and flossing as well as cleanings from your dental hygienist every six months should be enough to keep your smile bright.
Holistic Dental Care in Prescott, Arizona
Protecting your dental health can be as simple as drinking a cup of green tea. And when you do something that’s good for your dental health, it should be good for the rest of your body, too. That’s why we take a holistic, preventive approach to dental care. If you want a dentist who takes your full health into consideration, make an appointment at Prescott Dentistry today.
Photo by Vince S. on Unsplash used with permission under the Creative Commons license for commercial use 11/15/2023.