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Sugar – sweet, delicious, decadent. From powdered donuts to frozen coffee drinks topped with whipped cream, is there anything better than indulging our highly vocal sweet tooth? Maybe not, but for those of us trying to achieve a clean bill of oral health, we must learn to control these cravings.
The sugary foods we love are directly tied to troublesome tooth decay, the erosion that makes the dentist shake their head and ‘tsk, tsk’. It might surprise you to learn, however, that is isn’t sugar itself that creates uncomfortable cavities in teeth – it’s what sugar leaves behind.
Your tooth has one main source of defense, and that is enamel. The sugar you eat adheres to this lone defender, creating a big problem when left untreated, i.e. skipping routine brushing & flossing. Sugar promotes the development of the ghastly biofilm known as dental plaque – the worst enemy of your teeth.
Hold on to your stomach – that dental plaque is actually composed of living bacteria. Although some speculate plaque is a continuation of the body’s defense, preventing some microorganisms from taking over our immune system, it’s still most commonly attributed to the destruction of our natural teeth.
Keeping your teeth exposed to dental plaque is a bad habit as it creates destructive acids that damage your enamel. Your natural teeth can only shoulder so much exposure before they develop painful cavities and require a filling.
Early negligence to brushing leads to cavities while future negligence to a cavity leads to more drastic dental procedures – some of which can set you back financially. Occasionally when a cavity is left untreated for long periods of time, a root canal procedure becomes necessary. The situation can even spill over into an infection and create dramatic health problems.
It all starts with sugar and ends with your regular brushing routine. It’s okay to have a sweet tooth provided you have a diligent hand to brush with!
