Can Dieting Harm Your Teeth?

Dreaming of shedding a few pounds? Be careful how you do it or your weight-loss efforts could become a dental-health nightmare.

The best way to lose weight is to exercise regularly while eating a well-balanced diet. Unfortunately, many people have problems keeping to such a plan and may try extreme approaches to slimming down, with potential negative consequences to their oral health.

A well-balanced diet is crucial to maintaining good dental health. But diets can include changes in both what you eat and how you eat, which can affect your teeth. Radical changes in how you eat to accelerate weight loss may put your teeth at risk. Diet pills that decrease the flow of saliva also may pose a risk to your dental fitness. People with eating disorders that cause them to binge and purge may gradually damage the enamel of their teeth with exposure to stomach acids.

Changing Your Diet

Your teeth require certain vitamins and minerals to remain healthy and strong. People who try to lose weight by fasting or switching to an extreme diet may deprive their bodies of adequate levels of key nutrients. For example, a vegetarian diet may not offer adequate levels of:

Calcium
Proteins
Vitamin B2
Vitamin B12
Vitamin D

In addition, studies indicate that remaining on certain vegetarian diets for a long period of time may raise the risk of gum disease, according to the Academy of General Dentistry. These include vegan diets, which avoid all animal products, and may lack vitamin D. If you follow such a diet, it is important to find alternative sources for the nutrients you may be missing.

Research also indicates that people whose diets consist largely of raw foods may be at greater risk of dental erosion. For example, although a diet high in raw fruits offers many health benefits, the natural sugars found in such foods may accelerate the erosion of tooth enamel over time.

Do not fast to lose weight. This can lead to vitamin and mineral deficits that can harm your teeth. And, if you plan to switch to a diet low in meat and dairy products, consult your dentist about the possible impact on your oral health. Your dentist may recommend that you take a multivitamin to boost your nutrition intake.

Diet Pills

Experts generally discourage people from using diet pills to lose weight. These pills can adversely affect your health, including your dental wellness. Diet pills reduce salivary flow, leading to dry mouth. Saliva plays a vital role in neutralizing acids associated with dental plaque. When saliva dries up, your teeth are at increased risk for decay and associated conditions, such as gum disease and oral fungal infections.

If you do take diet pills, protect your teeth by increasing your intake of water. This helps prevent your mouth from drying out. You should also increase the amount of time you spend brushing and flossing. This helps ensure that you remove as much plaque as possible from your dental enamel.

Also, be careful about the type of toothpaste you use. Whitening formulations that contain peroxide can damage both tooth enamel and gum tissue if the mouth is too dry. If your mouth becomes excessively dry, see your dentist and inquire about special toothpastes and saliva substitutes that can help alleviate dry mouth.

Eating Disorders

Attempting weight loss by vomiting, or purging, after meals is never a good idea. This practice can have devastating – and possibly even fatal – health consequences. It also can damage your teeth in a couple of ways.

People who vomit regularly after meals prohibit their bodies from receiving essential nutrients that safeguard their teeth.

Regular purging also brings up stomach acids, which are corrosive to any type of tissue outside the stomach, including teeth. Stomach acids can erode the backside of the upper teeth and brushing right after purging actually increases the damage to your teeth. Eventually, regular purging may cut through your tooth enamel and begin to injure the inner structure of your teeth.

Although there are steps that can reduce the tooth damage from purging, anyone who tries to lose weight this way is urged to seek immediate medical care. Eating disorders such as bulimia are potentially life-threatening conditions that require professional treatment.

For more information on eating healthy, visit the Nutrition Basics Center.