Consume a cariogenic diet, and you may get to know your dentist better than you want to, because you raise your risk for cavities. A cariogenic diet is one that leads to dental caries -- also known as cavities. Fluoride toothpaste lets people these days get away with eating a more cariogenic diet without always suffering the consequence of more cavities. However, your food choices are still a factor.
Sugar
Sugar is one of the top cariogenic foods. In fact, it is the principle dietary element that drives the caries process. Your saliva helps preserve your teeth. However, when you eat sugar too often, this causes acid to form and overcome saliva's protective effect. Bacteria that are normally in your mouth convert all foods -- especially sugar -- into acids. This bacteria, food debris, acid, and your saliva combine in your mouth to form plaque. Plaque starts to build on your teeth within 20 minutes after you eat, according to Medline Plus.
Prevention/Solution
Dental caries occur when three conditions are present at the same time. These are the cariogenic micro-organisms in your plaque, a fermentable carbohydrate, and a susceptible tooth. To prevent cavities, you can do several things: Increase your tooth resistance with fluoride, interfere with or reduce oral micro-organisms with good oral hygiene, and change your diet, says Gregory D. Miller, lead author of the "Handbook of Dairy Foods and Nutrition."
Considerations
The amount of fermentable carbohydrate is a large factor in how cariogenic a food is. However, it's not the only one. How often a food is consumed, the food's consistency and how long it remains in your mouth also affect cariogenicity, Miller says. For example, dried fruit as a snack can be more cariogenic than chocolate milk because the milk gets cleared from your mouth quickly. Likewise, bananas are more cariogenic than straight sugar. Sticky foods cause more harm because they remain on the tooth surface. Also, snacking often increases the amount of time that acids stay in contact with your teeth, according to Medline Plus.
Other Concerns
Some foods will reduce the cariogenicity of others. Cheese and milk are two examples. Food combinations also are a factor. Cereal topped with a teaspoon of sugar is more cariogenic than pre-sweetened cereal with an equal amount of sugar, notes the U.S. National Research Council. While all carbohydrates are cariogenic to some degree, some carbs don't have much effect. Wheat starch and maize, for example, have less cariogenic activity than other carbs.
Sugar-Free
No-calorie sweeteners are a good option over sweeteners that have calories in terms of preventing tooth decay, because they cannot be metabolized by the oral micro-organisms in your mouth to produce acids, says Domenick T. Zero, author of an analysis in the "Journal of the American Dental Association." In fact, sugar-free foods and confectioneries made with noncaloric sweeteners are allowed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to put the "does not promote tooth decay" health claim on labels.
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