How oral health gets affected by daily dose of sugar?

It comes as no surprise; your diet affects your oral health just as much as it affects your physical health. Your body is a highly sophisticated machine that requires the right kind of fuel to operate to its fullest capacity, and as you would agree, your teeth and gums are critical components of this machine. Don’t forget about them when filling your plate!

Some ingredients in the foods and drinks you consume should be monitored carefully. Let’s start with the most obvious culprit: Sugar. Sweetened drinks, whether carbonated sodas, sweetened fruit juices or your twice-daily cup of sugary chai, all contribute to tooth decay. Fruit juices can be particularly dangerous because we tend to believe that they are good for us. For instance, a 12-ounce or about 350 ml serving of grape juice contains over 58 grams of sugar which is about a teaspoon of granulated sugar equals four grams of sugar.

Significantly, bottled teas, which appear to be relatively healthy drinks, can also be full of sugar. Even some have as much as 50 grams of sugar in it. So be careful with that bottled green tea as it may not offer the required dose of health as expected by you.

Milk offers another surprise as it may contain as many as 12 grams of sugar per serving.Biscuits, cakes, sweatmeat, ice cream are common source of high-sugar contents and not good for oral health.

There’s nothing wrong with an occasional treat if we follow it with a thorough brushing to remove that lingering sugar. However, there are many other foods that have sugar more than our imagination. That’s why it pays to read labels and develop an awareness of the sugar content in everything you consume.

Red apples, for example, may contain upto 20 grams of sugar. So while the apple may keep the doctor away, it won’t have the same effect on the dentist.

Wheat pasta topped with a hearty tomato sauce doesn’t sound threatening. In fact, it sounds like a fairly healthy meal option. However, the bottled pasta sauce you chose to enhance the authentic flavours may contain as much as 12 grams of sugar. Be mindful too of the amount of sugar present in breakfast cereals and cereal bars, typically thought of as healthy snacks. Even those healthy-sounding cereals – the ones that boast about the content of wheat, oats or fiber may also contain good amount of sugar.

The presence of sugar in your mouth causes acid to attack the teeth for upto an hour after the consumption of a sugary item. This leads to decay and results in the need for fillings, root canal treatments, and if the decay has progressed too far, extractions.

Acidic foods and drinks are also harmful, as the acid wears away the enamel and leaves the dentine, the tissue that makes up the bulk of the tooth, uncovered. The process is called dental erosion, which causes tooth sensitivity and affects the appearance of the teeth, leaving them less attractive.

The acidity of a food product is measured by its ‘pH value’. The lower the pH value assigned to a food or drink, the more acidic it is. Any item with a pH value below 5.5, such as vinegar, red wine, cola, pickles, grapefruit and orange juice, can cause erosion. However, the effects of acid can be reduced by ‘alkalines’, foods and drinks with high pH numbers, like carrots.

Poor food choices can also have an impact on your gums. When certain nutrients are missing in your diet, it is harder for the tissues in your mouth to resist infection. This impaired ability to resist infection can lead to gum disease, the results of which can range from tooth loss to poor heart health. It can even cause premature delivery or low-birthweight babies if gum disease in the expectant mother is not treated promptly.

Many researchers believe that gum disease progresses faster and has the potential to become more severe in those who have a poor diet. Pay attention not only to what you eat, but when you eat as well.

Foods that are consumed during a meal do less harm than snacks eaten throughout the day. This is because you produce more saliva during a meal than during a snack. Saliva washes food from the mouth and reduces the impact that acids have on the teeth, thereby reducing the risk of decay and cavities.

In short, limit the snacks you eat between meals to promote healthy teeth and gums. When you do snack, choose fruits or vegetables and avoid the foods that cause tooth decay, such as sweets.

When you choose a healthy diet, you are doing your teeth and gums a favor. They’ll return the favour with a beautiful smile that will last you a lifetime.