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| Most of us are
well aware that the foods we eat affect the health of our teeth. What
we may not know so much about is how cavities can be prevented or
provoked by our eating patterns.
Carbohydrates
and sugar in particular affect the development of cavities. Refined
sugars, such as white or brown sugar, are the culprits to avoid.
Refined sugars can appear on food labels as cane sugar, raw sugar,
icing sugar, sucrose, glucose, dextrose, maltose, fructose or corn
syrup. These sugars appear in a surprisingly wide range of food
products, such as ketchup and even peanut butter.
Naturally occurring
sugars such as those in fruit are not quite as bad as refined sugars,
as they are harder to breakdown. |
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| How cavities appear |
| Bacteria that
live in the mouth feed off natural sugars and especially, refined
sugars. These bacteria then produce acid, and it is this acid that
dissolves the enamel on your teeth. The end result? Cavities. |
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| Controlling cavities |
| The key to controlling
cavities through diet lies in the frequency of what you eat, rather
than the total amount. For example, it is much better for your teeth
if you eat a sweet snack such as caramels all in one go, rather than
nibbling on them throughout the day. This is because if you are snacking
every two hours, your mouth will stay acidic throughout the entire
day, promoting the development of cavities.
This also applies
to sweetened drinks, such as if you drink coffee and tea with sugar
throughout the day.
If you eat regular
meals and eat a non-sweet snack in between meals, your mouth will
be less acidic and thus less prone to cavities.
To summarize,
if you are concerned about cavities, stickyness and frequency
are the two things to remember. You can choose to either avoid sweet
snacks, or if you must eat them, do not snack continually throughout
the day.
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©
2001 - 2008 Dr. Peter A Balogh Inc. Dr. Edward T.W. Kwok Inc. All
rights reserved.
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