Dieters: You Could Be Damaging Your Dental Health

Popular diet plans on the market today may indeed help you to lose weight, but are you jeopardizing the health of your teeth in the process? Quite possibly.

"Many of the diet plans that are designed for weight loss are deficient in the nutrients people need to maintain healthy teeth," said Dr. Roger Smith, dental director of Delta Dental Michigan, Ohio and Indiana. "Dieters may appear healthier when they lose weight, but they may be damaging their teeth in the process."

Crash dieters, fad dieters and those who fast are all at risk for dietary deficiencies in certain vitamins and minerals, which can lead to erosion of the tooth structure. Even healthy-seeming vegetarian diets may lack vitamin D, vitamin B-2, vitamin B-12, calcium and some proteins.

Many dieters rely on diet pills to curb their appetite, but these medications can also decrease salivary flow, leading to tooth damage. Saliva is key in preventing tooth decay as it neutralizes the acids in plaque and washes the teeth. Also, saliva may help with the remineralization of tooth enamel.

Fad diets that are high in fruit intake can also damage teeth. Fruits often have a high content of natural sugars, which can decay and erode tooth enamel. Eating large quantities of these types of food can damage teeth over time.

When simple dieting crosses over to become an eating disorder, dental health is especially at risk. Dieters who become bulimic, inducing vomiting to lose weight, put their teeth at risk for enamel erosion. Stomach acids produced during vomiting pool in the mouth and settle on the teeth. Because of this telltale enamel erosion, dentists are in a unique position to identify a person suffering from bulimia.

"Anyone who is dieting to lose weight should be extra cautious about their oral health. They should to supplement their diet with multivitamins and drink lots of extra water," said Smith. "Crash dieting or any other 'quick fix' diet plans should be avoided.