Eating some foods and avoiding others can help heal cavities that are minor or early in development. Significant tooth decay may require additional treatment.
Our bodies heal themselves if we care for our whole-body health. When supported with proper vitamins, nutrients, and minerals, your saliva can rebuild (remineralize) lost tooth structure in the beginning stages of tooth decay (cavities).
Below are nearly 100 foods that help prevent and reverse cavities. These foods all contain a specific nutrient or ingredient with dental health-promoting properties.
If you’re interested in the connection between your dental and whole-body health, check out this revolutionary book by Rejuvenation Dentistry’s Dr. Gerry Curatola, DDS.
How Do Cavities Form?
Cavities form after a complex process that may happen over days, weeks, or months, depending on the individual. Understanding this intricate progression is vital for knowing how our diet can halt or slow demineralization.
Here’s the step-by-step breakdown of how cavities form:
- Plaque formation: Harmful bacteria and food particles coat your tooth surface. When you don’t practice consistent oral care, that bacteria and food debris become dental plaque.
- Feeding plaque: Dental plaque buildup feeds on carbohydrates, like sugars or carbs from bread. Adjusting your diet may slow this process.
- Acid secretion: When the plaque feeds on carbs, it excretes acids which slowly wear away at your dental structure — also called demineralization. (Yes, this means the bacteria in plaque “poops” acid.)
- Cavity formation: If you allow the plaque to dwell on your teeth long enough and feed it enough sugars and carbs, the secreted acid will result in cavities (holes in your teeth).
- Vicious cycle: These dental caries may reduce the effectiveness of routine brushing and flossing, and increase the risk of infection. Having cavities continuously makes maintaining good oral health difficult.
Nutrients That Naturally Heal Cavities
You can increase the amount of healthy foods and nutrients in your diet to help fight cavities naturally, especially if you avoid sugars and starches.
Calcium
How it helps: Calcium is critical for dental health. It strengthens bones and teeth. Dietary calcium is necessary for the natural remineralization of teeth.
Great sources of calcium in your diet include:
- Dairy
- Whey protein
- Canned sardines and salmon (with edible bones)
- Almonds
- Leafy greens
- Broccoli
- Seeds
- Beans and lentils
- Rhubarb
- Figs
- Amaranth
- Calcium-fortified foods and drinks
Vitamin D
How it helps: Vitamin D has many health benefits, such as boosting your immune system. For dental health, this fat-soluble vitamin (D3, in particular) is necessary to help transport calcium from your blood to your teeth. Vitamin D deficiency leads to low calcium and low phosphate, both of which weaken teeth.
Foods high in vitamin D include:
- Cod liver oil
- Salmon
- Swordfish
- Canned tuna
- Sardines
- Herring
- Beef liver
- Egg yolks
- Vitamin D-fortified foods and drinks
Vitamin K2
How it helps: Unlike vitamin K1, which is common in leafy green vegetables, vitamin K2 is less common in Western diets. However, research shows that vitamin K2 (with vitamin D3) is necessary to transport calcium from the blood or tissues into bones and teeth.
Foods high in vitamin K2 include:
- Nattō
- Kefir
- Eel
- Certain cheeses, such as blue or Gouda
- Ground beef
- Beef or chicken liver
- Chicken breast
- Butter
- Sauerkraut
- Egg yolks
Magnesium
How it helps: This essential mineral helps support healthy teeth. When saliva naturally remineralizes teeth, the saliva must contain calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus that you get from your diet or supplements. Magnesium helps activate vitamin D and regulate calcium.
Foods high in magnesium include:
- Nuts and seeds
- Leafy green vegetables
- Whole grains
- Quinoa
- Soy
- Tofu
- Avocado
- Cacao
- Blackstrap molasses
- Certain dairy products, like milk or yogurt
- Amaranth
- Magnesium-fortified foods and drinks
Phosphorus
How it helps: This is another mineral important in naturally remineralizing your teeth and reversing the effects of tooth decay. Getting enough phosphorus while avoiding the less helpful phytic acid is tough, but phosphorus-containing foods can help heal cavities.
Foods high in phosphorus include:
- Chicken
- Turkey
- Pork
- Organ meats
- Seafood
- Nuts and seeds
- Dairy
- Amaranth
- Quinoa
- Soy
- Phosphorus-fortified foods and drinks
Xylitol
How it helps: This natural sugar alcohol is sweet, but harmful bacteria in your mouth do not feed on xylitol. For reasons still unclear to researchers, substituting sugar with xylitol leads to better dental health outcomes than similar sugar alcohol substitutes.
Foods containing xylitol include:
- Sugar-free xylitol gum
- Sugar-free xylitol candy
Warning: Although safe for humans, xylitol can be deadly to dogs. Dogs’ digestive systems do not know the difference between xylitol and sugar, so dogs produce insulin in response to consuming xylitol. Because there’s no sugar to process, insulin lowers dogs’ blood sugar to fatal levels. Don’t store or spit out your xylitol gum in places where dogs can get to it.
Foods to Avoid
You want to avoid several foods to maintain a healthy set of teeth and support natural cavity healing. Stay away from carbohydrates and acidic foods.
Sugary Foods
Why avoid it: Sugar is a carbohydrate. Carbs feed the harmful bacteria on your teeth, resulting in acid secretion and then tooth decay.
Sugar is not the only carbohydrate that feeds harmful bacteria. However, it’s very prevalent in Western diets, so sugar tends to cause cavities more than any other culprit. Avoid sugar, and you should be able to slow tooth decay significantly.
Sugary foods include:
- Candy
- Sodas
- Fruit juices
- Condiments
- Salad dressings
- High fructose corn syrup-containing foods
Simple Starches
Why avoid it: Simple starches have just as many carbohydrates as sugar does. Starches tend to stick to teeth.
The harmful oral bacteria on your tooth surface feed on simple starches, excrete acids, and cause tooth decay. Avoid simple starches to reduce your chance of cavities.
Starchy foods to avoid include:
- Potato chips
- Cereals
- White bread
- Pasta
- Syrup
- Fruit
Dried Fruits
Why avoid it: Not only do dried fruits (like raisins, dried mango, or dried cranberries) contain lots of sugar, but these snacks are also very sticky. The fruity food debris sticks to your teeth like simple starches, trapping harmful sugars with harmful bacteria and accelerating tooth decay.
Dried fruit is harder to wash out of your mouth, more harmful to brush off your teeth, and more beneficial for the bad bacteria on your teeth. Avoid dried fruits, which may use misleading marketing — for example, “fruit is good for you!” — and you may decrease your risk of cavities.
Foods High in Phytic Acid
Why avoid it: Phytic acid may reduce your body’s absorption of minerals like calcium and magnesium, which are needed for dental strength. Phytic acid may prevent you from getting enough minerals necessary for tooth mineralization.
Phytic acid-rich foods include:
- Grains
- Beans and lentils
- Nuts and seeds
- Potatoes
- Beets
- Turnips
- Carrots
Pro tip: If you enjoy bread but want healthier teeth, consider trying sprouted bread (which is lower in phytic acid). You can also significantly reduce the amount of phytic acid in beans, lentils, nuts, and seeds by soaking them in water for 24 hours before preparing.
Some of these foods are an overall plus to your diet, so it’s not necessary to stop eating them entirely.
Highly Acidic Food & Drinks
Why avoid it: Acidic food and drinks can accelerate the wearing away of your tooth enamel. The more acid you put in your mouth, the weaker your tooth structure.
- Acidic foods include:
- Sodas
- Sports and energy drinks
- Coffee
- Citrus fruit juices
- High-sodium products
- Condiments
- Alcohol
Some dentists suggest avoiding dairy products because they are often low-pH (acidic). However, dairy products often support good dental health. Many dairy products contain high amounts of phosphorus, magnesium, and calcium that offset the downsides of the acidic pH.
Best Practices to Remineralize Your Teeth
The best way to remineralize your teeth is to prevent tooth decay from disrupting your body’s natural remineralization process. Below are the best practices to support the remineralization of your teeth:
- Brush your teeth twice a day with a soft-bristled sonic toothbrush, using gentle circles angled at your gums. This essential oral hygiene practice disrupts the harmful bacteria on your teeth, which would contribute to tooth decay. That way, your mouth can naturally remineralize teeth without the cycle of tooth decay to slow it down.
- Use high-quality toothpaste that promotes a healthy oral microbiome. The American Dental Association (ADA) supports the use of fluoride in dental care. Even though fluoride can help remineralize teeth, it may lead to some nasty side effects. Prebiotic toothpastes like Revitin are refreshing, healthy alternatives that help ensure your oral microbiome composition is ideal for remineralization.
- Floss daily to prevent interdental plaque from contributing to further demineralization.
- Try dental probiotics, which should promote a diverse oral microbiome that makes natural remineralization more likely.
- Get plenty of calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus in your diet, all of which are necessary minerals to strengthen your teeth. Your saliva can naturally remineralize teeth using these nutrients.
- Avoid added sugar, simple starches, and acidic foods, all of which can significantly contribute to the wearing away of your dental enamel. Without these detriments, your body is better equipped to remineralize your teeth naturally.
- Eat crunchy foods like stalk veggies and apples to promote saliva flow. This should reduce food particles and loose bacteria clinging to your teeth, reducing your risk of tooth decay and increasing your chances of remineralization.
- Drink water after eating, which rinses your mouth of food particles and acidic residue, likely contributing to tooth decay. Rinsing your mouth improves the conditions in your oral cavity for saliva production and natural remineralization.
- Schedule your dental checkup twice yearly for a deep cleaning that helps prevent tooth decay, gum disease, and bad breath. Plus, dental professionals can notice indicators of oral health conditions long before the patient does.
If you need an expert to guide you through the remineralization process, contact Rejuvenation Dentistry right away. We have two locations in New York City where we help patients like you achieve their oral health goals using safe, conservative treatment methods.
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