This may shock our many Los Altos, CA patients, but we here at the Peninsula Center of Cosmetic Dentistry are no strangers to the tradition of grabbing a beer after a long week of work. In fact, we often walk across the street to Maltby’s to grab a drink at the end of the week. We have no problem admitting this as it turns out that beer made with hops can actually be beneficial to the health of our teeth. Today, Drs. Joseph Field, Bruce Hartley, and John McFarlane are blogging to talk about hops, its history, and what it is inside of it that allows beer brewed with it to be good for our teeth.

Hops Brewed Beer for Your Smile

When checking out all of the craft breweries that are around these days, it’s hard to believe that there was ever a time when hops wasn’t seen everywhere. It turns out that hops wasn’t actually used in beer until the colonial period of American history. During this time, a lot of the beer being consumed by the colonists had to be imported from England. Unfortunately, a lot of beer was spoiling over the long trip across the Atlantic. This led to the discovery that hops could actually prevent bacteria from corrupting the tasty beverage. What was formerly only seen as a weed suddenly became one of the most important plants in brewing.

As time has moved on, it’s only natural that they’ve come up with more effective and modern ways of keeping beer bacteria free. So why then is hops still so widely used in beer brewing? That’s because hops actually has many interesting effects on beer. For instance, certain strands of hops have shown effective at altering the taste of the brew. There are also strands of hops that can affect the aroma of a beer. There are even strands of hops that can make both of these changes at the same time.

So, why exactly is hops brewed beer beneficial to our teeth? Hops is actually full of a natural forming group of chemicals called polyphenols. We want to consume these chemicals because polyphenols have been proven to prevent plaque from building up on your teeth, as well as reversing gum disease and preventing oral cancer. One polyphenol present in hops, called xanthohumol, has been found useful in killing viruses that could drastically affect your oral health. It has also shown capable of preventing bacteria from sticking to your teeth, lowering your chances of experiencing tooth decay.

Call and Schedule a Consultation with Drs. Field, Hartley, and McFarlane

Much like soda, beer that is consumed in moderation is unlikely to have a negative effect on your smile. However, should you lose a tooth because of alcohol consumption, rest assured that we can restore that tooth using dental implants. If you would like to learn more about the restorations that can be performed using dental implants, we encourage you to contact our office and schedule a no-obligation consultation with Dr. Joseph Field, Dr. Bruce Hartley, or Dr. John McFarlane today.