Can Drinking Milk Help You Fight Cavities?

Good oral health is about more than just brushing and flossing your teeth on a tight schedule. What you consume, and the order in which you consume it, has a significant influence on the forces that harm your teeth and your ability to defend against them. For instance, you may have heard for most of your life that eating too much candy can rot your teeth. Today, we explain the other side of how food can affect your oral health by exploring how drinking milk can help you prevent cavities.

Natural Protection for Your Teeth

Though your teeth require your constant attention and care, the trick to their longevity is ensuring that their natural defenses remain healthy and strong.  Your teeth’s first and foremost defense is the protective layer around them, called enamel. As the strongest substance that your body produces, tooth enamel is made mostly from the minerals calcium and phosphate. To remain strong and effective against tooth decay-causing bacteria, enamel requires a steady supply of these minerals, which can be found abundantly in milk, cheese, and other dairy products.

Milk: It’s Good for Your Smile

When oral bacteria gather and form dental plaque, they can convert the sugars in your food and beverages into acid to weaken your tooth enamel and deplete your teeth’s minerals. Chockfull of calcium and phosphate, milk offers an excellent source of enamel-builders that can fortify your teeth against damaging acid. Milk also helps neutralize your mouth’s acidity, reducing the chances of irreversible enamel erosion, tooth decay, and cavity formation.