Take Care of Your Teeth and Gums

Article by Stevanazita

A familiar TV commercial about a child going to her father to show that she had a cavity would explain the current state of dental health in the nation. Even at the rate of one cavity every six months, assuming the child visits the dentist on the recommended schedule, this child’s happy boast actually means that by the age of 21, most of his or her teeth will have had a cavity.

Cavities are not rare. It can be attributed to a number of different factors such as poor nutrition and too much sugar. Similar to heart disease, inherited susceptibility to cavities run within families with no apparent explanation. Your grandfather’s excellent dental records do not ensure that yours will be good also. Perhaps the place where he lived had a fluoridate water supply. In between meals, he may not have eaten sweets. And he probably kept his teeth clean by brushing them with some kind of tooth powder and rinsing them with salt water.

Your options are plenty even if you can’t do anything about your heredity. Demanding from the local government for fluoridated water can be one step to take. By drinking fluoridated water, a child has lesser chances of acquiring cavities. When we fluoridate water, we also provide the aged with something to keep their bones stronger.

Food that contains lots of sugar should not be eaten always. Keep away from sugar in sticky forms. Plaque on the surface of teeth and in the crevices between teeth is the starting phase for dental cavities. Plaque carries acid producing bacteria that corrode teeth. The bacteria’s favorite food is a substance known as dextran.

Studies in several countries have shown that if sugar is eaten during a meal, caries is not as much a problem as when it is consumed between meals, especially in sticky forms. Sweet syrup can be found on infant pacifiers given to British babies. Knowing about this one case in the medical realm will probably convince you.

Certain families are affected by a certain disease known as hereditary fructose intolerance. These people, after consuming fructose, become uncontrollably sick. Those who suffer from this learn to say no to food with sucrose. As a result, they don’t have any cavities even if they eat food containing carbohydrates.

It is clear that cavities exist not because of refined food but because of sugar. Keep in mind that your gums and teeth are essential to your nutritional condition of your body. Vitamins and minerals are a necessity for improved dental health. Hard foods provide gum stimulation and clean teeth.

Visits to the dentist and brushing of teeth after meals are obviously needed, as we now see. You could be headed for a lot of stressful dental experiences, otherwise.