Perhaps one of the testimonials to the sad state of our dental health is that very familiar TV commercial where a child rushes to his or her father, interrupting whatever professional occupation he is engaged in, to shout, daddy, daddy, guess what, I only had one cavity. By the time he reaches 21, the child will have had cavities in most of his teeth.
Having cavities is a common disease. It is the product of different factors such as too much sugar and not enough fluoride intake. Sometimes, cases of cavities are passed on to the next generations just like heart disease. Rules of good dental health must still be strictly followed even if your grandfather may have a good dental history. He may have been drinking water with fluoride. He rarely ate sweets. Maybe he washed his mouth with salt water and brushed with tooth powder to keep his teeth clean.
While you have no control of your heredity, there are still other things you can do. For one thing, you can pressure your local government to fluoridate your water supply if your water has at least one part per million of fluoride, and if your children drink it, their teeth will be partly protected. Studies show that they will have only half as many cavities as children who don’t get fluoridated water. Fluoridation is safe and may benefit even older people who are susceptible to osteoporosis.
You and your children should also cut down on sugar, particularly sugar loaded foods between or just after meals. Pies, caramels, and other food with sticky sugar should be avoided. Plaque is the first step to the growth of dental caries. Plaque actually shelters a kind of bacteria responsible for producing teeth corroding acid. The bacteria love to feed on dextran, a substance made from table sugar.
Cavities are formed when sugar is eaten between meals rather than during them. Pacifiers containing syrup are being given to babies in recent years. You might be more convinced if you are aware of a particular medical curiosity.
Hereditary fructose intolerance is a disease that affects certain families. These people can eat foods with glucose, but not foods with fructose or sucrose. Those who are victims of this stay away from sucrose. They may eat a lot of carbohydrate rich foods, but they don’t have many cavities.
Refined food and starches do not account for the existence of cavities, but sugar does. You should bear in mind that your mouth, especially your teeth and gums, are essential to your nutritional state. Your dental health and tooth formation will be improved as long as you take your vitamins and minerals. The stimulation of your gums is one of the benefits of eating harder foods.
It seems pretty obvious now the need for regular dental check ups as well as regular brushing. Pain, large expenses, and missing teeth could be what you are in for in the future.
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