Water makes up 60% of your body, including 70% of your heart and brain and 80% of your lungs. As such, your body needs an adequate amount of water to function efficiently and properly. Both doctors and dentists recommend that their patients drink at least 8 glasses of water each day.
The Health Benefits of Water
The overall and dental health benefits of water are significant and many. Those who drink an adequate amount of water have healthy body weight, can think clearer, stay focused better, feel better, have more energy, and have clearer skin.
Their mouths are also healthier, with a reduced risk of tooth decay, gum disease, dry mouth, and bad breath.
Good health is something we all want and strive to attain, but if we're honest, most of us don't come close to drinking the recommended amount each day.
We try to make up for the deficiency of water intake by emphasizing a healthy diet and exercise. While good diet and exercise are important and necessary for good health and for warding off sickness and disease, adding an increase in water intake is still crucial for optimal, long-lasting health.
Why don't we drink as much water as we should?
There are many reasons that people fail to drink water including a busy lifestyle. Our days are often characterized by busyness. When we wake up or feel thirsty in the middle of the afternoon at work, we shrug it off and work through. We ignore our body's signal to drink water.
When we do drink beverages, more often than not they are loaded with caffeine and sugar. The chaos of the day wears us down and our automatic source for replenishment and energy comes in the form of a cup of coffee, a can of soda, or a shot of an energy drink.
Water lacks flavor as well as the caffeine and sugar that we crave. We therefore, give it a pass.
Water and Oral Health
It was mentioned earlier that people who drink the recommended amount of water each day have a lower risk of getting cavities, gum disease, bad breath, and dry mouth. But why? Water is the key.
Saliva is your body's natural mouthwash. It is made of water and healthy bacteria. You need saliva to keep plaque and tartar from building up on and between your teeth and along the gum line between brushing and flossing.
Patients with dry mouth have a harder time controlling plaque formation and cavity formation. As a result they also have worse smelling breath.
People don't brush and floss their teeth after every meal or snack consumed throughout the day. This is where saliva comes in to help keep your teeth's surface moist to prevent germs and bacteria from clinging on.
Saliva, however, is not always enough to keep your mouth clean throughout the day. While saliva does help clean your mouth out, if there are food particles that can't be removed, the bacteria in the saliva will react with the bad bacteria to produce smelly breath and initiate the production of sugar that can lead to cavities.
Drinking water will help the saliva remove more leftover food particles, lowering the number of particles that can form into cavities.
How to Incorporate Water Into Your Day
Now that you know how and why water is important to your oral health, here are some tips for incorporating more water into your daily diet:
· Drink a glass of water right when you get up, even if you don't feel thirsty
· Take a sip of water after each sip of coffee or soda
· Limit the amount of coffee, soda, and juice you consume in a day
· Substitute a glass of water for a cup of coffee or soda
· Alternate a glass of water between glasses of soda and cups of coffee
· Drink from the drinking fountain each time you use the restroom
· When you're thirsty, force yourself to choose water
· Fill and bring a water bottle with you wherever you go
· Create a fun competition with friends and family to see who can drink enough water each day. Those who don't drink enough have to reward those who do
· Snack on foods like celery, apples, and watermelon that have a high water content
· Set a daily goal for yourself and reward yourself each time you meet your water consumption goal
· Have an accountability partner who can text, email, chat or call you throughout the day to check in on your water consumption
Water is important to your overall and dental health. There are many small steps you can take to incorporate more water consumption into your day