When you eat or drink, plaque bacteria forms in your mouth to digest any sugar found on your teeth. Plaque is sticky. As plaque digests the sugar on your teeth, it forms acids which can also stick to your teeth. Plaque can attack your tooth enamel. Prolonged exposure to plaque can cause dental caries and gum disease. You should brush your teeth twice a day and use floss to remove food particles that may be lodged between your teeth, according to the American Dental Association.
Considerations
Most foods, even those that don't taste sweet, form sugar as they are digested. Frequent snacking exposes your teeth to acids and dental plaque. The same is true for sugar-containing beverages such as regular soda, juices, flavored water and sports drinks. Instead, choose water, milk, unsweetened tea or other sugar-free beverages. You can limit the plaque that forms on your teeth by limiting the amount of sugar in your diet.
Saliva
Your mouth produces more saliva when you're eating a meal. Saliva helps break down food for digestion. Saliva works to rinse away the acids that form on your teeth from plaque. It is best to eat desserts or candy at mealtime when your mouth produces more saliva. Avoid sticky sweets such as caramel or sucking candy between meals.
Sugar Substitutes
You can reduce your risk of tooth decay by chewing sugarless gum for 20 minutes after a meal. Most sugarless gum contains xylitol. Xylitol is a sugar substitute that cannot be fermented by dental plaque, as stated in "The Nutrition Bible." Xylitol may prevent dental caries. Sorbitol is a sugar substitute used in sugar-free hard candies. Like xylitol, sorbitol is not metabolized by dental plaque.
Apples
Eating an apple may help clean your teeth at the end of a meal, according to the Dental Institute of Experimental Research, University of Oslo. Chewing apples reduces the amount of food debris on your teeth. If you eat an apple, it may also speed up the clearance of sugar from your mouth.
References
- For the Dental Patient: Eating habits for a healthy smile and body
- "The Nutrition Bible"; Jean Anderson, MS and Barbara Deskins, Ph.D., RD; 1997
- "Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology"; The effect of chewing apples on dental plaque and food debris; J. M. Birkeland and L. Jorkjend; 1974
