Everyone dreams of Healthy Teeth, and teeth help us to chew, digest food, and to speak clearly. Damaged teeth can cause health problems such as stroke, heart attack, and pneumonia. Are you worry about your teeth' health and want to know what is acid reflux / GERD? How to protect your teeth? Read more about to keep your acid reflux under control.
GERD, also known as gastroesophageal reflux disease (or chronic acid reflux), is a condition where acid-containing stomach contents leak into your esophageal tube, which connects your stomach and throat.
Acid reflux occurs when a valve at the end of your esophagus (the lower esophageal or sphincter) doesn't close properly after food reaches your stomach. As a result, acid backwash flows through your esophagus into your mouth and throat, leaving you with a bitter taste.
Acid reflux can be very unpleasant for everyone. But did you know that it can cause tooth damage?GERD can erode tooth enamel, and your stomach acid can harm the enamel on your teeth and cause discoloration. Keeping your teeth clean can prevent acid reflux from damaging your teeth.
In this article, we cover the steps you could take to control the acid reflux itself as our aim here is to focus on moderating and controlling damage to your enamel and teeth.
That being said, you should consult with your doctor along with taking some simple steps to lower the acids in your mouth. There are nutritional and dietary changes you can make and there are medications that your doctor can recommend.
You will even find that some commonly recommended steps also tie in with taking care of your teeth. For example, if you must drink juices, sodas and other sugary/acidic liquids then they should best be taken in with a straw to lower direct exposure to your teeth. Avoid sugary snacks and don’t eat acidic foods as snacks but instead with full meals.
Drinking (water excepted) or after an acid reflux incident. When your mouth is acidic, then the enamel softens and brushing at this time can cause damage. (By the way, this advice holds true for everyone and for more information, check out our article on when not to brush your teeth.)
Instead of brushing after a meal or an acid reflux occurrence, you should rinse with a glass of water. Better yet, add some salt or baking soda to the water. This is an excellent way to neutralize the acid levels in your mouth and is a highly recommended habit for acid reflux sufferers.
Saliva not only neutralizes acids but it is nature’s Natural remineralizing agent. To keep your enamel and teeth healthy, you want to ensure you have adequate saliva.
It might seem obvious, but it is worth stating that keeping hydrated is essential for saliva production–and for your overall health. GERD sufferers often experience dry mouth as well, compounding the destruction of enamel by the loss of saliva to remineralize your teeth. So, drink up, but not on sodas, juices or acidic beverages!
One powerful remedy is to chew with a sugar-free gum containing xylitol for several minutes after meals and acid incidents. The chewing action, together with xylitol, really helps in stimulating the saliva flow needed to fortify your weakened teeth and to neutralize acids.
Another approach is to use an essential oil blend that is specifically designed for maintaining oral health, such as our Essential Oil for Healthy Gums & Oral Care – Orarestore Blend. This blend works to control pH levels, bacterial overgrowth and to stimulate saliva production. It is super easy to use and to carry along, so makes a great friend for acid reflux sufferers. Just a few drops on your tongue and gums will help bring bacteria under control, stimulate saliva production and so assist in remineralization and acid moderation.
So much for controlling the acid levels in your mouth, but what about helping to strengthen your teeth and repair the damage done by acids? The key is by returning lost minerals to the depleted enamel.
While traditionally fluoride has assisted in doing this, it is not a natural approach and there are many concerns about the long-term safety of artificially introduced fluoride to your body.
In very simple terms, the reason fluoride works is that it works to bind minerals to your teeth and it is this process of assisted remineralization that helps in cavity prevention.
But a far, far better (and safer) technique is to remineralize with the actual, natural type of calcium that your body uses to form your enamel.
This form of calcium is called hydroxyapatite. Just like fluoride, it remineralizes your enamel but far more effectively, naturally and without the health hazards that many are concerned about. And, by returning this natural component to your teeth, you are restoring a natural and strong level of protection.
This sounds great and makes sense, but there is a challenge to getting the hydroxyapatite to bind effectively to your damaged enamel. To create a proper and ready bond required a solution.
This was solved through the scientific development of nano-hydroxyapatite. This laboratory created form is super-micro and formulated to rapidly and securely bond to deteriorated enamel. Although created through science, it is still natural to your body and mimics the natural cycle of remineralization.
By scientifically re-engineering this natural form of calcium into a "nano" form, one now has a super remineralizing substance that readily restores minerals, and thus protective strength, to your teeth.
However, although still natural, it is a clinically created and manufactured product.
That means that its quality can vary as there are different manufacturers and formulations. Aside from the quality factor, there is also the price factor and the better performing formulations can be relatively costly. What this all means is that although many oral products may boast of containing hydroxyapatite that does not mean that they have quality formulations or even an adequate amount to get the job done.
One quality product to consider would be our Hydroxyapatite Toothpaste. It contains a patented form of nano-hydroxyapatite that is clinically proven to remineralize teeth, add protection to your enamel and to significantly reduce the pain of dental sensitivity. Plus, it is free of nasty chemicals, fluoride and is sugar-free.
You can take a variety of steps to stop acid reflux from causing more damage to your teeth. We've listed the top tips to help you fight GERD and keep your teeth healthy.
Some foods cause Acid reflux. This can lead to more serious consequences for your teeth. Avoid these foods to reduce acid reflux.
If you want to strengthen your teeth, chew sugar-free gum that helps you strengthen your teeth with minerals.
If you see acid reflux symptoms, you must have to consult with your Doctor. A doctor may be able to diagnose your acid reflux based on your history and signs. He may recommend some medication or tips such as maintaining weight, eating slowly, stopping smoking, avoiding foods and drinks that trigger reflux, taking proper sleep, and many more.
Healthy teeth require a lifetime of attention. Therefore, it is important to take steps daily to ensure your teeth are healthy and prevent any problems. This includes choosing a Nano Hydroxyapatite toothpaste for sensitive teeth and adopting good habits such as mouth washing, brushing daily, drinking more water, limiting sugary and acidic foods, and going to your doctor for at least after six months.
If you want to minimize the damage to your teeth caused by acid reflux, you should consider buying Nano hydroxyapatite toothpaste from Great Oral Health that can restore the weakened tooth, best for enamel support, and slow down tooth decay. Our toothpaste for acid reflux has been clinically approved to reduce pain and sensitivity. It does this by strengthening the enamel of your teeth with advanced mineralization.
Just to recap:
These are all very effective steps to protect your teeth from the destructive effects of acid reflux and GERD.
(Please note, if you have already experienced severe damage to your teeth, then it is time to see the dentist for professional repairs. Do not wait on this, as the longer your severely damaged teeth go without treatment then the harder, costlier and more painful the repairs can be.)
