A beautiful smile is the best accessory to carry yourself with confidence. And a good dental care regimen is important to ensure your smile stands out bold and bright. From basic dental hygiene steps such as brushing, flossing to regular dental clean-ups and procedures, each of these steps plays a vital role in ensuring you have clean and healthy teeth. There are a few home remedies and kitchen items that can also help you achieve beautiful teeth too.

There are tons of home ingredients like strawberries, baking soda that people seem to use for their teeth. While most of these items have shown promising results after use, beet juice might be a homemade dental health solution that is scientifically proven worthy. So can beet juice be your solution to tooth decay and cavities?

Understanding Tooth Cavities and Decay

In a world addicted to processed goods and sugar, it feels impossible to complete a meal without including a portion of these foods. From sports drinks to cough syrups, sugar has found its way into almost everything you consume in a day. But this is also primarily the reason why almost 95 percent of the people across the world suffer from dental problems.

A common reason for dental problems such as cavities and decay is poor dental hygiene. When we eat, the food particles that we chew tend to remain on the surface or get stuck in the crevices between the teeth. Brushing, flossing, or even cleaning with water in the mouth post a meal ensures that these particles get eliminated. Not doing so lets these particles rest in a hospitable environment. These particles then become a breeding ground for harmful bacteria that slowly start to build up in your mouth. And prolonged exposure to such bacterial activities will cause cavities that weaken the teeth and decay.
Tooth decay could cause various other dental problems such as bad breath, swelling in the gum line, toothache, headaches. It leads to the extraction of the tooth, causing a huge problem.

Existing treatment methods

Today, the field of dentistry is advanced to provide excellent treatment options for tooth decay and cavities. While cavities need fillings artificially, there are various treatments for tooth decay in different stages.Pediatric dental crowns are standard for children indicating severe cavities or decay in which case the tooth needs removal. There are fillings and extraction methods to eliminate the affected tooth, to ensure the same does not spread into a severe problem.

But prevention is better than cure, and the right foods can ensure we have a healthy and happy life. Consuming the right foods can help reduce the risk of tooth decay and cavities, and one such fantastic food turns out to be beet juice. It can prevent the occurrence of these problems at the root level.

What makes beet juice special?

This brightly colored drink with a distinctive taste is the house for many vitamins and minerals essential for the body. Beet juice is a superfood loaded with antioxidants that makes it a healthy choice for your heart, brain as well as your skin. It is also rich in Vitamin A, Vitamin C, calcium and helps enhance the efficiency of absorption of iron in the body. The pulp contains the right amount of fiber to benefit your digestive system and additionally helps eliminate various ailments such as anemia. Beet juice also has anti-inflammatory properties that help in detoxification of the liver. It can also provide your body with ample energy in the morning by increasing oxygen in the system.

Beet juice and Fighting Dental problems

When we talk about beet juice, probably the first thing that hits you is glowing skin and detox properties. Dental health might be the last thing on your mind when you think about this juice. Also, tons of online and offline material, suggest staying clear of consuming beet juice as it stains the teeth. But a team of scientists from Austria has proof that the juice might be an effective way of preventing dental problems such as tooth cavities and decay.

The students realized the presence of high inorganic nitrate levels of beets converts into nitric oxide when it enters our body. Nitric oxide helps reduce the formation of bacteria and plaque found around the teeth. These bacteria are among the significant reasons behind tooth cavities and decay. But by consuming beet juice, we pump in nitrates into the mouth which then converts into nitrous oxide. This oxide helps prevent the tooth from decay and cavities.

A drink called the Bio Drachen Trank, which contains beet juice was useful for the primary study of this relationship. The study involved 50 students out of which 25 consumed nitrates rich juice, whereas the rest drank nitrate-free juice. They noted down the pH levels of saliva from the mouth of these subjects after drinking the juice. The results of the study illustrate that there were considerably lower levels of acid content in subjects consuming nitrate-rich juice as compared to the rest.

Regular consumption of beet juice could provide enough nitrates to keep the growth of plaque and other harmful bacteria in the mouth in check. It controls the growth of lactic acid bacteria in the mouth and promises good dental hygiene and healthy teeth shares Dr.Otmar Oglinger, the project lead. The drink used during the study Bio Draken also contains calcium and Aronia berry that combines to benefit the individual's dental health.

The earliest traces of these nitrates were put to study during an experiment held at the Queen Mary University in London. The study aimed to understand the correlation between consuming beet juice and blood pressure. While half the participants of the study consumed beet juice, the rest consumed nitrate tablets. The results of the study indicate that participants who drank beet juice showed considerably lower levels of blood pressure than those taking nitrate tablets. This experiment stands among the first studies to understand the benefits of beet juice and its rich nitrate content for the body. And just like your blood pressure, a dose of beet juice every day can help prevent tooth cavities and decay.

Research is under progress to understand what would be the most beneficial level of beet juice for the body to get the best benefits from this nutritious drink. Raw Beet juice contains oxalic acid, and hence it is better to pair with amazing ingredients such as carrots, berries to make a delicious shake to consume. A 200 ml glass of this mixed juice every day can bring a lot more benefits for your body and hence include this in your diet to lead a healthy and happy life.

Author's Bio: 

Jessica Smith has been writing articles for e-business and elance sites for more than 4 years. Her educational background is Masters in English and journalism which gives her a broad platform to write on a variety of topics with ease and efficiency. She is an independent writer especially enjoys writing on fashion, lifestyle, health, and medical niche.