It’s no secret that too much sugar intake is enemy number one when it comes to preventing tooth decay but few understand why it is so bad or what steps to take to ensure they win the sugar war in their mouth.
How Sugar Causes Cavities
While most people have heard their whole life that too much sugar can cause tooth decay, only a few know exactly how. In truth, it’s not sugar itself that damages your teeth but rather a chain of events that occurs after you indulge in that cherry cheesecake.
Every person’s mouth holds many helpful bacteria but harmful ones as well. There are certain kinds of harmful bacteria that feed on sugars and create tooth enamel destroying acids. A cavity is a bacterial infection created by sugar-induced acids that create a hole in a tooth leading to pain and possible tooth loss.
Thankfully your body replaces minerals lost through acid wear mostly through, of all things, saliva. Your saliva contains key minerals like phosphates and calcium that help repair teeth. This is why a great substitute for sweets is sugarless gum. Chewing sugarless gum helps create saliva without the downside of more sugars in your mouth.
Some Positive Ways to Restore your Teeth’s Enamel
Here a few things that you can eat and drink that can help your body produce mineral-rich saliva and strengthen your teeth:
- Fibrous vegetables and fruits
- Yogurt, cheese, and other dairy products rich in calcium and phosphates
- Green and black teas both of which contain substances that help suppress harmful oral bacteria.
According to the American Dental Association (ADA), fluoride is an essential mineral that not only prevents cavities but can also reverse tooth decay in its early stages. Everyone should drink plenty of fluoridated water, brush at least twice a day with an ADA-approved fluoride toothpaste, and have regular professional fluoride treatments from a dentist.
Practical Steps to Reducing your Sugar Intake
- Start with your #1 source of sugar and begin there.
- The usual suspects are soda and other sweetened beverages but the main source of sugar in your diet may be processed baked foods or even commercial orange juice. Sugar is sugar whatever source it comes from. Once you identify the main culprit in your regime, determine to reduce your sugar intake there.
- Eat more real food.
- Processed foods are a never-ending source of sugar. Sugar can hide in cookies, candy bars and ice cream but also in popcorn, pretzels and salad dressings. If you cook and prepare meals yourself, you’ll dramatically cut your sugar intake.
- Get a good night’s sleep.
- Studies show that sleep deprivation of two hours or more of the recommended seven to nine hours of sleep leads to junk food cravings. Sleep deprivation also leads to an increase of over 50% in consuming sugars.
Weninger Dentistry is here to help when a cavity occurs but we want to enable you to win the war against sugar in your mouth without the need of a dentist’s drill.