Last week we discussed how making a few adjustments to some of your favorite summertime treats could help you support the health of not only your dental implants but your overall health as well. Today dental implants Gainesville, FL provider Dr. Altschuler and the rest of his staff want to talk about another classic summertime treat that could help you continue this oral support. However, this treat is just for the big kids because we’re talking about beer.
YAY, BEER!
Now, before we get too excited and start singing praises to the beer Gods, we have to cover our bases. This post is not meant to debunk the fact that alcohol is bad for your teeth because it still is. However, what isn’t bad for your teeth is the main ingredient in beer. Those little green balls known as hops.
Class Is In Session… For A Moment.
We know that history was not everyone’s favorite subject in school, nor was it the most exciting at times. However, we have a quick little lesson on the history of beer that we need to share with you.
Beer has not actually always contained the number of hops it does today. The real addition of hops into beer recipes started in 18th century England. During this time in history, everything was transported and exported by ship. This method of travel had the tendency to take a long time. A very long time.
Sea voyages tend to do that.
Anyways, because of this people had to find ways to keep the edible and drinkable items they were transporting from spoiling. In beer’s case, the solution was to add more hops! Batches of beer which had a higher content of hops in their recipe survived the long sea voyages without going rotten. This led to additional hops being added to conventional beer recipes turning into a staple in the production process.
Cool, huh?
Beer Nye The Science Why?
So we bet you are wondering what this has to do with your beer or your teeth for that matter. Allow us to explain. When people began to realize that hops were helping to prevent beer from falling victim the bacteria that it normally would have, scientists zeroed in on it, and for many years they mystery as to why exactly hops were keeping beer from spoiling plagued them.
That is, until 1937 when antiseptic properties were first witnessed in hops. Fast forward 80 some year and scientists, the brilliant and persistent breed they are, have narrowed down what amazing things certain extracts in hops do for our bodies.
Take Lupulone, for instance. Lupulone is a menace to tuberculosis. Another component in hops, known as xanthohumol, kills viruses and contains anti-malarial properties.
However, dentists are scientists too, and when antimicrobial properties were seen in hops dentists decided to give hops a shot at benefitting the human mouth. What they found is that hops are not only good for your oral health, acting like a type of tasty antimicrobial mouthwash when consumed in beer, but they can also help to prevent oral problems and tooth decay in your mouth’s future!
Of course, all this is meant to be taken with a grain of salt and in moderation. As we stated above, beer still contains alcohol and alcohol is STILL bad for your teeth. But an occasional frosty cold one can now give you more than one reason to smile.
Until next time readers, cheers and keep smiling.
