Oral Health Habits to Keep Your Smile for Life
In light of Dental Health Week this week, we decided it was a good time to get you thinking about some of your daily oral health habits and some in particular that might need improving in order to help you keep your smile for life.
This year’s theme of dental health week is: Keep Your Smile for Life. Its aim is to educate Australians about the importance of maintaining good oral health in every aspect of their lives.
So, let’s drill down on one of our hardest oral health habits to curb: eating and drinking, and why it has such a huge impact on our oral health.
Everything you eat and drink can have a major effect on the health of your teeth and gums.
Tooth decay is a diet-related disease that commonly develops in response to our consumption of sugar. Sugar from the foods and drinks we consume is taken up by decay-causing bacteria that live on the surfaces of our teeth.
These bacteria process the sugar, turning it into acid which is then excreted on the surface of our teeth where it draws out minerals from the tooth. If this process happens over and over, without any effort to prevent or stop the disease process, it can eventually result in the formation of tooth decay.
And while, the key messages from Dental Health Week, and any good dental practitioner, will remind you of the importance of the first 3 steps listed below, limiting sugar intake remains vitally important!
Here are some top pro tips for reducing your sugar consumption to help prevent tooth decay.
DRINK LOTS OF WATER
Water is the best choice for your teeth. It is good for you, it is sugar free and in most areas in Australian it contains fluoride. Drinking fluoridated tap water is one of the most cost-effective ways to try to prevent tooth decay.
Sugar-sweetened beverages such as soft drinks, energy drinks, sports drinks and even fruit juices are packed with sugar. These drinks provide no nutritional content and increase your risk of developing tooth decay as well as a range of other health conditions like Type 2 diabetes. Even the sugar-free varieties can cause damage to your teeth as these drinks have a low pH, making them acidic, which can cause the tooth’s surface to soften and become worn.
HOW MUCH IS TOO MUCH?
Did you know that one 600ml bottle of soft drink, on average, contains 16 teaspoons of sugar? This is over twice the recommended daily sugar intake for adults.
The World Health Organization recommends that adult sugar intake be equal to 5% of your daily total energy intake (kJ) to decrease your risk of developing tooth decay as well as other health benefits. For the average adult, this equates to 6 teaspoons (equal to 24 grams) of free sugar per day.
For help calculating sugar consumption based on 5% of total energy intake, visit ADA.
YOU WILL SEE THE TERM FREE SUGAR USED ABOVE. HERE ARE VARIOUS DESCRIPTORS USED FOR SUGAR:
Added sugar – sugar added to food and drink products during processing, manufacturing or at the time of consumption, such as adding sugar to your tea or coffee or sprinkling it over your breakfast cereal.
Free sugar – this includes added sugars, as well as the sugar naturally present in honey, syrups, fruit juice and fruit juice concentrate.
Natural sugar – sugar that is part of the natural structure of food products, including vegetables, fruits (fructose) and dairy (lactose).
To know how much sugar is in the foods and drinks you purchase, it is best to read the Nutrition Information Panel located on the food label to make a healthy choice.
READING THE LABEL
When reading the food or drink label, the information you need to make a healthy choice is on the Nutrition Information Panel on the back or side of the product.
When deciding between products based on their sugar content, look at the amount of sugar per 100 grams (g). This will allow you to compare ‘apples with apples.’ If you use the sugar per serve value, you may be comparing ‘apples with oranges’ instead.
It is best to look for foods with 5g or less sugar per 100g. Between 5g and 10g is okay also. If a product has over 15g of sugar per 100g, it may be best to find a healthier alternative.
Not all products will advise the amount of added sugars present as a value on the label. To check for added sugars, it is best to read the list of ingredients, which are usually found at the base of the label. The higher an ingredient is to the top of the list, the more of it is present within the item.
Did you know that sugar can go by over 50 names? This can make it tricky identifying all the sources of sugar in a food product. It is not just the obvious foods such as lollies and cakes that include sugar. Look out for hidden sugars in foods such as cereals and sauces.
GRAMS TO TEASPOONS
You will often see sugar content measured by ‘number of teaspoons.’ This unit of measure can often make it easier to understand sugar content by relating it to spoonfuls of sugar. To know how many teaspoons make up a quantity of sugar, divide the amount of sugar by 4.
1 teaspoon of sugar = 4 grams
So, if a drink label states that it contains 20g of sugar, this means it is equal to 5 teaspoons’ worth of sugar.
Example: 20g sugar/4g per teaspoon = 5 teaspoons of sugar
GUM ANYONE?
Chewing sugar-free gum may not be the first thing that springs to mind when you’re thinking about habits that can benefit your teeth. But studies have shown that chewing sugar-free gum for 20 minutes after eating can prompt your mouth to produce more saliva, which helps neutralise decay-causing acid attacks.
So there you have it – some key tips to improving your oral health habits around food and drink consumption. Couple these things with regular dental visits and brushing and flossing to be on your way toward keeping your smile for life!
Here at Morrin Dental, we can help you achieve just that. Contact one of our friendly reception staff to book your next check up!