We all know that sugar isn’t great for our teeth, but it’s not just about the occasional chocolate bar. Sugar hides in many foods and drinks we enjoy every day — even in products we think of as “healthy.” Over time, these hidden sugars can feed the bacteria in your mouth and lead to tooth decay and gum disease.

When we eat or drink sugary foods, bacteria in plaque use that sugar for energy. In the process, they produce acid as a by-product — and that acid starts breaking down tooth enamel. This is how cavities begin. Once decay progresses through the enamel and reaches the softer layer beneath (called dentine), the tooth becomes weaker and more prone to damage or pain.

Because this process happens slowly and often without symptoms, regular dental check-ups are essential. Your dentist can detect early signs of decay before they cause pain or require more complex treatment.

Understanding sugar: the sweet truth

Sugar is a type of carbohydrate that our bodies convert to glucose for energy. Some sugars occur naturally in fruit and dairy, while others are added during food manufacturing.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends limiting “free sugars” — these are sugars added to foods and drinks, as well as those naturally present in honey, syrups, fruit juices, and juice concentrates. It’s these free sugars that cause most problems for your teeth and your overall health.

Even foods that seem healthy can contain surprising amounts of sugar. Flavoured yoghurts, sauces, breakfast cereals, and even “fat-free” products often include hidden sugars to improve taste and texture. A quick way to compare products is to check the per 100g column on the nutrition label — anything above 15g of sugar per 100g is considered high.

How sugar affects more than your mouth

Tooth decay isn’t the only reason to watch your sugar intake. A diet high in added sugars is also linked with weight gain, heart disease, and diabetes. Your liver processes sugar in a similar way to alcohol, turning excess sugar into fat. Over time, this can contribute to fatty liver disease and increase your risk of cardiovascular problems.

Interestingly, tooth decay is the world’s most common non-communicable disease — even more widespread than heart disease or diabetes. That’s another reason dental health should be seen as part of your overall wellbeing, not separate from it.

Why snacking can be worse than sugar itself

It’s not just how much sugar you eat, but how often.

Each time you eat or drink something sugary, your teeth are exposed to an “acid attack” that can last up to 20 minutes. If you keep snacking or sipping throughout the day, your saliva doesn’t have time to neutralise those acids — putting your enamel under constant stress.

To protect your teeth:

• Limit sugary foods and drinks to mealtimes
• Leave at least two hours between snacks
• Drink water instead of soft drinks, juice, or cordial

Smarter snack ideas

Small changes make a big difference. Try swapping sugary snacks for options that are better for your teeth:

• Cheese and wholegrain crackers
• Fresh vegetables with hummus
• A handful of nuts
• Fresh fruit (rather than dried fruit or juice)
• Natural peanut butter on toast or apple slices
• A boiled egg
• If you prefer yoghurt, choose plain or natural varieties and add your own fresh fruit for flavour.

How to protect your teeth from sugar damage

Good oral hygiene and regular dental care can keep your smile healthy for life.

Here’s what we recommend at Dentistry on George:

• Brush twice a day with fluoride toothpaste
• Floss daily to remove plaque between teeth
• Limit sugary and processed foods
• Drink plenty of water
• Visit your dentist regularly for check-ups and professional cleans

Worried about tooth decay or diet-related damage?

If you’re concerned about cavities or want tailored advice on improving your dental health, our friendly Brisbane CBD dentists can help. Prevention is always better than cure — and small changes to your diet and daily habits can make a lasting difference to your smile.

Book an appointment with Dentistry on George today.

The post Sugar and Your Smile: How Sweet Habits Affect Dental Health first appeared on Dentistry on George.

Our dentist Dr Mishari is very particular about what is actually in the food he eats. He’s found that food manufacturers hide sugars in a lot of our food where we don’t expect it. Sugar is even a prominent ingredient in bacon and is most notorious for being in anything labelled ‘fat free’. Luckily for him, Mishari loves to cook things from scratch. Along the way he has found some tips and tricks to avoid excess sugar content in his diet. In this blog we will discuss why it’s important for us to limit our sugar intake and watch what we snack on. We will also provide some of Mishari’s sugar-free recipes.  

When doing your weekly shop we encourage you to have a look at the ingredients and sugar content of your favourite supermarket produce. Next time you’re in the practice, let us know what you’ve found.  

What is Sugar?

• Sugar is a form of carbohydrate that the body converts to glucose. 
• There are several different sugars. Sugars occur naturally in some foods, such as fruit and dairy products, and are also added to a wide variety of foods.Sugar can take many different forms, including white, raw or brown sugar, honey or corn syrup. 
• Sugars are popular in the processed food industry because they add taste, colour, bulk, and provide thickness to food products 

What does it do to our mouth?

• Sugar and tooth decay are closely linked. Dental plaque is a clingy film made up of food particles, bacteria and mucous. The bacteria in plaque depend on sugars to produce acids, which break down the enamel and start tooth decay. 

• All carbohydrates contribute to this process.
• The worst offenders are sticky sugars ( e.g. dried fruits) and sugars in sweets and soft drinks 
• Even nutritious foods e.g. fruits and dried fruits, can allow bacteria in plaque to produce acids 

Can snacking be healthy?

Short answer – yes – there is a caveat though. It really depends what you are snacking on. 

As we talked about, acids are produced from plaque bacteria breaking down sugars. Every time you snack, your teeth go under this ‘acid attack’. It can take up to 20 minutes for your saliva to neutralise these acids. If you keep snacking, your saliva will struggle to neutralise the acids – every time your mouth has almost gone back to normal, you have another square of chocolate, biscuit or a sip of a sugary drink, and the cycle begins all over again.  

How to reduce the risk of decay:

• Brush and floss regularly – twice a day for brushing and at least once a day for flossing
• Cut down on sticky, sugary, and processed carbohydrates like lollies and canned foods and potato chips 
• Drink fluoridated water and use fluoride containing toothpaste
• Leave at least 2 hours between meals 
• Drink water instead of cordials, soft drinks, and juices 
• Visit your dentist regularly 

Mishari’s Low Sugar Banana Bread 

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup light olive oil 
• 1/4 cup organic honey ( or rice malt syrup) 
• 2 large free range eggs 
• 3 medium ripe bananas, mashed  
• 1/4 cup lactose free ( skimmed ) milk 
• 1 tsp vanilla extract  
• 1 cup wholemeal flour or similar  
• 1tsp baking soda 
• 1/2 tsp salt 
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon  
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts  

Method

1. Preheat oven to around 165 degrees( fan assisted) 
2. Medium bowl – mix oil and honey. Then eggs, whisk , then mashed bananas milk, vanilla and combine.  
3. In big bowl mix the dry ingredients – then add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix well until it’s the consistency of a sticky batter.  
4. Pour batter into greased baking tin.
5. Bake for around 55 minutes.

The post Let’s Talk About Sugar first appeared on Dentistry on George.

Our dentist Mishari loves cooking and we’ve already shared on the blog his healthier alternative to KFC. He loves cooking things from scratch, so he know exactly what goes in to it. Food manufacturers hide sugars in a lot of our food where we don’t expect it. Notorious for this is anything labelled ‘fat free’. Just check the ingredients for the sugar content.

In this blog, I want to give you some more of Mishari’s sugar-free recipes and why it’s important for us to limit our sugar intake and watch what we snack on.

What does sugar do to the body?

According to the World Health Organisation, poor diet and physical inactivity are some of the most common causes of non-communicable diseases (NCD). They are also a risk factor for obesity, which is a risk in it’s own for non-communicable diseases and which is rapidly increases across the globe. A high level of free sugars intake is a concern as it’s associated with a poor quality of diet, obesity and an increased risk of a non communicable disease.

A healthy lifestyle – diet, exercise and regular
health and dental check-ups – will help keep
you healthy.

What is a non-communicable disease?

A non-communicable disease (NCD) is one that is not transmissible from one person to another, for example heart disease, most cancers, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, osteoporosis, stroke, Parkinson’s disease, autoimmune diseases, chronic kidney disease and of course tooth decay.

If fact, dental decay is the most prevalent non-communicable disease across the world. Tooth decay causes pain, a limit in function (including time off work and school) and the social and mental implications of tooth loss or being self-conscious about your smile.

The WHO also states that although exposure to fluoride reduces dental decay and delays the onset of cavities forming, it does not completely prevent it. This just shows how important diet it. You can brush and floss and do all the prevention you can, but if you are still consuming a lot of sugar, you will still get decay.

To read about the different stages of tooth decay, check out another one of our blogs.

NCDs are the leading causes of death and were responsible for 38 million (68%) of the world’s 56 million deaths in 2012.

What other damage can sugar do?

Studies have shown association between a high-sugar diet and a greater risk of dying from heart disease. One study, published in the JAMA Internal Medicine in 2014 found that those who got 21% of their calories from added sugar had a 38% greater risk of dying from heart disease than those who only consumed 8% of their calories from sugar.

In addition, your liver metabolises sugar much like it does alcohol. It converts sugar to fat. Over time this can lead to fatty liver disease. This can contribute to diabetes and increase your risk for heart disease. Too much sugar can also increase blood pressure and chronic inflammation. Both of these can lead to heart disease and stroke. (1)

Healthy foods and snacks are great for your
general health, not just your dental health.

What are the different types of sugar?

The term “sugars” includes intrinsic sugars, which are those incorporated within the structure of intact fruit and vegetables and sugars from milk (lactose and galactose). You may have heard the term ‘natural sugars’ to describe these. These sugars pose little problems to the teeth provided they are within their original intact form. For example, eating an apple is much less damaging for your teeth than drinking apple juice or eating dried apple.

Free sugars, are those which are added to foods and beverages by the manufacturer, cook or consumer – you may also hear these being called ‘added sugars’. However, free sugars also include those naturally present in honey, syrups, fruit juices and fruit juice concentrates. It’s the free sugars that cause problems with your teeth and your general health.

These free sugars are the ones added into your ketchup, bread, yoghurt, cereal and even baked beans. When buying anything in a packet, my advice is to look at the label and check under ‘carbohydrates of which sugar’ . Compare this amount per 100 grams to other similar products to see which is the lowest sugar version (you can also do this to check salt content).

Why is snacking bad?

Plaque bacteria love sugar. When you eat sugar, these bacteria feed off it, producing acid. This acid causes tooth decay – the teeth start to rot and cavities form. This can be caused by eating sugar, or even eating something that breaks down into sugar (carbohydrates, like bread). Every time you snack, your teeth go under this ‘acid attack’. It can take up to 20 minutes for your saliva to neutralise these acids. If you keep snacking, your saliva will struggle to neutralise the acids – every time your mouth has almost gone back to normal, you have another square of chocolate, biscuit or a sip of a sugary drink, and the cycle begins all over again.

VIDEO

Some sugar-free recipes

Home-made Pizza

Mishari made this healthy home-made pizza, which you can whip up easily at home using whatever vegetables you have in the fridge (or freezer) for your toppings.

This recipe makes 2:

1. Mix 230 g of wholemeal flour, some salt & pepper, a sprinkle of fennel seeds, 2 sprigs of thyme, 125 ml water a tsp of olive oil and make into a dough ball. Knead the dough out until not sticky and then cut the ball in half. Roll each half out into any size/thickness you like
2. Heat a pan with a splash of oil – pop the flatbread in, and cook on both sides for 5 mins total ( until browned, slightly crisp)
3. Heat oven to about 200 degrees ( fan)
4. Cover each pizza base with a teaspoon of tomato paste, then add your cheese (e.g. mozzarella) and whatever veg you like (Mishari used mushrooms, broccoli, sweet corn and spinach)
5. Heat in oven for about 10 mins
6. After it’s cooked remove and enjoy!

Rice Salad

Another of Mishari’s favourites is this tasty and nutritious rice salad. He credits the inspiration from a good dentist friend of his.

1. Use any rice you like and quantity appropriate to how many you’re feeding. Cook the rice according to the instructions with an added splash of vegetable stock.
2. Use 1 tin of black beans (or equivalent amount of cooked dried beans) and 1 cup of frozen or 1 tin of corn (cook as required).
3. Non-vegan option: boiled eggs – boiled, peeled and cut into quarters.
4. Chop vegetables into chunks – Mishari used 3 tomatoes, cucumber, 2 capsicums (one red and one green) and 2 large handfuls of spinach
5. Place the rice, corn, beans and vegetables in a large bowl and mix together with a good amount of extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper, and the juice of 1 lemon (or lime).
6. Place the eggs on top.
7. Mishari placed this in the fridge to chill before serving cold.

Great on its own as a vegetarian or vegan (minus the eggs) lunch, or as a side salad to a larger meal.

Rice, beans and vegetable salad
(vegan if leave off the eggs).

Healthy Snacks

Swap out chocolates, biscuits and other sugary snacks for these alternatives:

• Cheese on crackers
• Veggies (carrots, cucumber, capsicum) dipped in hummus
• Nuts
• Fresh fruit
• Peanut butter on crackers or toast (make sure you go for natural peanut butter made from 100% peanuts – no added salt or sugar).
• Boiled egg

Tooth friendly snack (make sure there is no
added sugar in the peanut butter).

Worried you have been eating too much sugar? Worried you have damaged your teeth? Book in for a check-up to get your teeth checked out & discuss your diet with the dentist.

References

(1) https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/the-sweet-danger-of-sugar

The post Why snacking damages your teeth first appeared on Dentistry on George.