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While reading the book, “The Case Against Sugar” by Gary Taubes, I came across an interesting part that dealt with the damage that sugar does to teeth. Apparently, those who cannot afford sugar or live in areas where there is little access to sugar, generally have far better teeth than those in more developed economies where sugar is more available. Essentially, tooth decay is caused by bacteria living in the mouth, but when we eat sugar that improves the environment for the bacteria to live and work in. In other words, every time you have sugar, or anything with sugar in it, you allow your teeth to come under attack again and that is why dentists often recommend that you brush your teeth straight after a meal – of course that is not as good as not having sugar in the first place, but any time you eat or drink something with sugar in your teeth are going to come under attack again. It is the kind of advice one needs to learn now and benefit from even if our parents did not.
The Sugar Association apparently acknowledged its role in this and internal documents and encouraged their members to find other ways to control tooth decay other than by restricting carbohydrate intake - by which they are referring to refined sugar. It is important to realise that the sugar industry actually has funded and worked on campaigns to make sure that we do not all know this, because telling us to give up sugar and to stop eating things with sugar in it will obviously be the end of business for those that they represent.
Posted by Michael de Broglio on Friday 17-Feb-17
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Comments
Tersia said:
on Monday 06-Mar-17 03:38 PM
Now that I have braces a person also becomes so much more observant as to what you eat and what not and especially the sugary foods and drinks as it's also on my list of things I am actually not allowed to eat and drink.
It so true that the things that are bad for you is always the tastiest. Luckily I don't eat sweets as much, but there are days that I do. I can immediately feel on my teeth that I have eaten something that is actually bad for them.
Helen said:
on Monday 06-Mar-17 01:03 PM
From very small age, I remember all doctors use to say that any sweet food will damage my teeth, and I must try to eat very little sweets and not to drink soda drinks!
But how would you say sometimes no to bar of chocolate, I think that the life will be so boring and we all will be so moody with out sweets and chocolates of course in moderation!!!
Nicolle said:
on Monday 06-Mar-17 11:06 AM
I remember watching an episode of Oprah, where she was interviewing Matthew David McConaughey. I remember being absolutely struck by his charismatic smile and his pearly whites! As the interview proceeded, Oprah actually asked him about his dazzling smile, where he replied that he brushes his teeth at least 7 times a day! That is seven times a day!
I've thought about applying this in actual life - it would be a bit awkward leaning over the basin at work brushing your teeth wouldn't it?
Jessica M said:
on Monday 27-Feb-17 09:45 AM
Well this is true, sugar is bad for a lot of things not just for bones and teeth. I like sweet tea but I generally do not eat sweets. But I should cut down on my sweet tea before its too late.
Tamaryn said:
on Thursday 23-Feb-17 04:46 PM
Growing up we were always told that sugar is bad for your teeth- to this day I'm slightly paranoid about getting cavities as a result of sweets, fizzy drinks and the like and tend to avoid them altogether. I think we are now moving into an era where people are better starting to understand the impact sugar has on diabetes, obesity and other conditions. I struggle to think of any real benefits of sugar- other than if you have a sweet-tooth it'll momentarily satisfy a craving. The down side of sugar far outweighs any benefits.
brumilde said:
on Wednesday 22-Feb-17 11:05 AM
The mouth has more bacteria then a dish sponge i read once. Doesnt germs also breed in heat? But agrees 100% sugar is bad. well not all sugar. but sugar also leads to other bodily problems later. high and low blood pressure... can cause you to become a diabetic because your body can produce the righ amount of glucose
Lucretia said:
on Wednesday 22-Feb-17 08:53 AM
It is not only sugar in sweets and sugary items that cause problems, it has recently been confirmed that perhaps it would have been better putting a chocolate into one's child's lunchbox than the fruit we did over the years. Fruit has just as much sugar and sometimes more than artificial sweets, etc. I will say what I have always said, "anything in moderation is the way to go". You can eat, drink, smoke, etc as long as it is done in moderation, you will be healthy.
Ashleigh said:
on Wednesday 22-Feb-17 08:45 AM
I am a sugar fan, yet I haven't experienced a problem with my teeth at all, yes as I get older, they have changed but I am also a smoker but I don't have any teeth decay, I haven't even had a crown, or anything. I have sugar in something everyday. I believe there is a lot of things we lack in our food sources of today hence why people are often experiencing problems in various areas of their health.
Cornelie said:
on Wednesday 22-Feb-17 08:37 AM
That is why it is so important not to give to much sugar to your young children as their milk teeth play such an important roll. I believe in honey rarther than sugar.
Natasha said:
on Wednesday 22-Feb-17 08:12 AM
Sugar is very addictive and even trying to cut your sugar everything has sugar there is food that contains natural sugars that is also bad for you . If you cut sugar everything tastes bad
Thabitha said:
on Wednesday 22-Feb-17 07:32 AM
The sad part is we all now that sugar is bad for our tooth and bad for our health but it is difficult to cut sugar all together because the are too many food that contains sugar.
Angelique Jurgens said:
on Tuesday 21-Feb-17 08:25 AM
Pretty sure I remember my mom saying not too much sweets and sugar because you will get rotten teeth. It is something that always stuck to me but to be honest I always just considered sweets damaging my teeth and not completely sugar as a whole. I have definitely started to watch my sugar and cut down. Now if someone else makes me coffee and it has 3 sugars I cannot stand it, when before I couldn't drink coffee with anything less. You literally get use to the taste of no sugar in tea/coffee. I know it isn't a big change but it's a start!
Daniella said:
on Monday 20-Feb-17 01:40 PM
Its so true that undeveloped countries have amazing teeth, the first that comes into mind is Brazil. They have amazing sparkling white teeth. But their dental care is also free.
Henrietta said:
on Monday 20-Feb-17 08:50 AM
It's like coke, as far as I have witness in my life coke has had the worst effect on a lot of people's teeth that I know and its full of sugar etc. I have to agree with some comments, even if we know that something like sugar is bad for us it would not stop people from buying and eating it. Too many people are addicted to their sugar.
Liesl said:
on Friday 17-Feb-17 04:53 PM
I think you will only really realize how bad something has been for you all along the moment you start cutting it out and you see the visible difference in yourself since doing so. I think that's the only testimony that can never lie and will be able to sway you forever
Melissa van Tellingen said:
on Friday 17-Feb-17 04:53 PM
One always think that one choclate wouldn't hurt, but we do not realise what it does to our health. Moderation is key and monitoring your suger intake is important,
Liz said:
on Friday 17-Feb-17 04:43 PM
Moderation is key. I don't think I will ever be able to cut sugar out completely, but definitely try to limit intake.
Nicky said:
on Friday 17-Feb-17 04:38 PM
I agree, sugar is detrimental for teeth and this would apply to children as well and a dentist once told me that juice or even formula milk in a child's bottle can tooth decay-especially if a child has its bottle in its mouth during the night
I doubt though that people would stop consuming sugar entirely even if we are made aware of all the risks associated with it.
Zanell said:
on Friday 17-Feb-17 04:32 PM
You don't think that when you are eating chocolates or cake that this isn't actually just fattening but also bad for your teeth. I don't think I could ever completely stop sugar but I will definitely try lower my amount of intake everyday
Sinead said:
on Friday 17-Feb-17 04:31 PM
We never think sugar is that bad until it actually affects us. That doesn't only go for sugar though... I like the idea of brushing my teeth after certain meals but after everything you ingest? Hmmmm... Well we have to make sacrifices or do what needs to be done I guess
Jolene said:
on Friday 17-Feb-17 04:28 PM
I have a massive sweet tooth, I don’t think anything will stop me to consume sugar. I know it is bad for my teeth and obviously my health but unfortunately it is the one thing I won’t be able to live without.
Jessica Apfel said:
on Friday 17-Feb-17 04:28 PM
Its so strange to see the correlation between 'bad teeth' and those considered to be in the more economically stable parts of the world - considering their access to health care far surpasses. I am quite sure there is an even stronger correlation between this and being overweight? Sugar is found in so many foods, you would be amazed! Fruit juice has amongst the highest sugar rate but we are deceived by the fact that it is 'fruit juice' - we should all learn to be more aware of our sugar intake. There are more adverse effects then we would think! Tooth decay being one of them. We all know that a rotten smile isn't very attractive!
Jadine said:
on Friday 17-Feb-17 04:10 PM
I agree that the Sugar Industry has chosen not to communicate all this knowledge due to profits been negatively affected.
They should be legislated the same way that the Tobacco Industry is legislated, i.e. Warnings should be printed on all products that contain a high level of sugar. Then it will be up to the consumer to make the choice to "Eat" or "Not to Eat".
Lourien said:
on Friday 17-Feb-17 04:03 PM
This is such an interesting topic, I was not aware of the fact that sugar can damage your teeth, at least I keep sugar intake low as well. Although I do enjoy something sweet now and then as long as it is used moderately, I think it will not do harm.
Joyce said:
on Friday 17-Feb-17 03:26 PM
I think this is an important information to have, knowing how teeth get decayed by sugar. Now we know that when eating sugar we are building a comfort zone to the mouth bacteria that destroys our teeth.
Mathilda said:
on Friday 17-Feb-17 02:26 PM
Luckily I’m not very fond of sweet stuff and I’m very strict with my diet so I got use to not having sugar in anything
And also knowing it is harmful for your teeth will make me not want it even more
Dune said:
on Friday 17-Feb-17 01:54 PM
It is obvious that too much of anything will be bad for you. Whether its sugar, carbs, sun, anything actually. You need to be disciplined and control what you consume on a daily basis. Lead a healthy diet, go for your regular check ups and you should be fine.
Michelle said:
on Friday 17-Feb-17 10:25 AM
Almost everything that taste nice in life, are bad for your health. At least I do not have a sugar problem, so the Dentist doesn’t see me that often. Which I'm glad about because the Dentist is probably the place I like the least in this world.
Angelique P said:
on Friday 17-Feb-17 09:43 AM
Sugar overall is not good for you. It will be great if you can cut out sugar from your diet I think it will benefit you a lot and you will feel much healthier. Instead of eating a chocolate eat a fruit it has natural sugars in that is good for you. I think people depends on something sweets if they had a bad day they grab the nearest sweet so that they can feel better.
Suzanne said:
on Friday 17-Feb-17 09:07 AM
Interesting! This actually makes a lot of sense. As many of the others have said - as long as you enjoy sugar in moderation , it shouldn't cause you major health and, in this case, dental issues. I do enjoy my chocolate treat every now and then and after reading this, I might focus on brushing my teeth or use a mouthwash straight after.
patrick said:
on Friday 17-Feb-17 09:06 AM
sugar and sugar related diseases are more dangerous than most diseases . our bodies can do without it and it can be can there are a lot of things which can be used in its place. it becomes even more dangerous because of the sort of society we live in with little physical activities. The recent sugar tax move in S.A is a step in the right direction.
Nina said:
on Friday 17-Feb-17 08:55 AM
Sad that some of the good things in life are so bad for us. I always believe that if you do not over do things you should be fine. Try to live a balanced life and im sure you will end up ok and at least enjoy some of the good things in life. It makes sense that you should brush you teeth after having something to eat, especially sugar, but it is definitely not practical.
Juliet said:
on Friday 17-Feb-17 08:53 AM
Sugar only has one positive - it tastes nice and it makes everything taste nice, and it has so many negatives. However, I believe that even if they put photos of decayed teeth on the sweet packets people will still buy and eat the sweets/bread/chocolates etc. Sugar will never be eliminated.
Nikita said:
on Friday 17-Feb-17 08:33 AM
I try to follow what the dentist says but sometimes, for example during work hours, it is not possible to brush your teeth directly after eating. Something that I have done to reduce my sugar intake is to cut out fizzy drinks and sugar in my coffee. After implementing this my next annual visit to the dentist was pleasant and quick.
Clare said:
on Friday 17-Feb-17 08:30 AM
Is sugar not a source of Energy? I love sugar and I must say I don't think my body can lose Sugar completely as I struggle these days with this Diet I must say that when I get a little cheat day my body feels so much better then when I eat non-sugar foods.
Bianca said:
on Friday 17-Feb-17 08:29 AM
I have a massive sweet tooth and enjoy sweets on end, I suppose the price that I pay is having fillings regularly when I visit the dentist. I do however find that using mouthwash after a sugar binge does make a huge difference in the decay of your teeth and rinsing the sugar off your teeth, almost immediately does save some me some fillings. I know that sugar is not good for me but I just honestly cant imagine a life without eating any sugar at all.
Prishani said:
on Friday 17-Feb-17 08:17 AM
I believe that everything should be enjoyed in moderation, my dentist always told me that too much sugar isn't good for my teeth. I have always tried to watch my sugar intake and be conscious of how much sugar I have.
Melissa said:
on Friday 17-Feb-17 07:56 AM
I only drink one sugar in my coffee everyday. But I can't eat anything else that contains sugar in it. Eating stuff that contains sugar every once in a while can't do that much harm.
Alexis said:
on Friday 17-Feb-17 07:24 AM
Too much of anything will cause damage. You need to control the intake of sugar, realize what you are eating. I mean I had a doughnut the other day, and I swear never again, i could not see after that sugar intake. If it causes that, what else is it causing that you do not realize. Im not surprised that that information is kept from us, I mean....then they would not be in business
Johannesburg based attorney specializing in personal injury matters including Road Accident Fund claims and medical negligence matters. My interests include golf, reading and the internet and the way it is constantly developing. I have a passion for life and a desire for less stress!
