Dental implants are a remarkable technology, but they depend on your body to build bone around them. In order to do that, your body, in turn, depends on you to make sure you get enough nutrients to fuel the process of bone building. When you’re recovering from the dental implant procedure, consider increasing your intake of these vitamins to help your body make bone.

Vitamin A

Vitamin A is helpful because it helps the body create and regulate cells that break bones down, known as osteoclasts. It may seem counterintuitive, but this is vital to the process of building bones. Your body removes old and damaged bone structures to build new, stronger ones. On the other hand, too much vitamin A can cause your osteoclasts to go a little crazy, which can damage bones.

The secret to always having the right amount of vitamin A is to get lots of beta-carotene. This isn’t vitamin A, so it doesn’t stimulate your osteoclasts, but your body can turn it into vitamin A as necessary. Sweet potatoes and yams, carrots, and leafy green vegetables are all high in beta carotene.

Vitamin B

Our bones depend on three types of vitamin B: B6, B9 (also known as folate), and B12. These B vitamins help regulate certain compounds in the blood that can weaken your bones if they get too high. The people at highest risk for vitamin B deficiencies are the elderly and vegans, as well as those whose bodies don’t properly absorb vitamin B.

Most meats contain high levels of vitamin B, but if you’re a vegan, eat up those dark leafy vegetables.

Vitamin D

Spring is here, but many of us are probably still suffering from vitamin D deficiency as a result of the low intensity sunlight in winter. Here in Sydney, you have to get the equivalent of 25 minutes of sun at midday on your bare arms to generate enough vitamin D. And if you have dark skin, you might need as much as an hour and a half of sun to generate enough.

Without vitamin D, your body can’t use calcium to build bones, so it’s crucial to get enough of it. If you can’t get out in the sun right now, add some fatty fish, liver, mushrooms, or cheese to your diet to help build it up.

Vitamin K

Most people don’t think about vitamin K, but it’s vitamin D’s partner in crime. It helps vitamin D make calcium usable to the body. Because most people don’t know about it, though, vitamin K deficiency is common, and it’s been linked to osteoporosis.

The good news is that vitamin K can be found in a few key foods, including liver and, you guessed it, leafy green vegetables.

Higher Intake for Healing

Proper integration of your dental implants is vital to ensuring their success. Your body depends on you to give it the nutrients it needs, so make sure you’re taking in enough of these key nutrients.

If you have other questions about dental implants in Sydney, please call (02) 9686 7375 for an appointment with an implant dentist at My Hills Dentist in Baulkham Hills.