The Impact of Diet and Nutrition On Oral Health

By Teresa A. Marshall, PhD, RDN/LDN

Dental hygienists serve as health care educators in the dental setting. Oral hygiene instruction includes diet and nutrition counseling for the prevention and/or treatment of oral diseases. Diet—defined as the combination of foods consumed—may impact caries risk, soft tissue health, and responses to injury and infection. Nutrients contained within foods are essential for growth, maintaining tissue health, repairing injured tissue, and providing energy for daily activities. Oral health professionals need to be prepared to identify dietary contributors to disease, assess patients for nutrition-related risks, and provide dietary counseling to mitigate these risks.

* References can be found in the original article via the link below.
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