How to stop decay and prevent cavities: Part Two

Part Two of our two part guide on how to prevent tooth decay and cavities, to keep your teeth looking healthy, is all about how what we eat and drink can effect what happens to our teeth. Now we all know that too many sugary foods and drinks aren’t good for our teeth, but do you know how to help prevent tooth decay without giving up all of your treats?

Keep reading to discover some handy tips on how to help keep your teeth healthy without saying goodbye to sugar!

YOUR AIM:TO REDUCE THE AMOUNT OF SUGARY FOODS AND DRINKS AND REDUCE THE NUMBER OF TIMES A DAY YOU HAVE THEM.

 The maximum number of times you should eat/drink sugar in a day is 4. So enjoy all the lovely sugary                       foods and drinks with a meal.

In between mealtimes, only drink or snack on sugar free foods and drinks.

Having a healthy, balanced diet, with lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, will help to keep your immune                    system strong so you can fight diseases anywhere in your body, not just your mouth.

Some medicines contain sugar, so ask your doctor or pharmacist if there is a sugar-free version.

 

 

 

So what food and drink is good and bad for our teeth?

Bad for Teeth

• Fizzy drinks and flavoured water
• Chocolate, biscuits, sweets and crisps
• Dried fruit and raisins
• Fruit juice and flavoured
• Hot chocolate, Tea/Coffee with sugar

 

Good for Teeth

• Savoury sandwiches
• Nuts
• Plain water or milk
• Cheese
• Tea or coffee without sugar or with a sweetener

 

It is also important to look at the ingredients on the packaging of your food and drink so you know how much sugar is in each portion. Check the ingredients list for all the types of sugar:-

• Glucose
• Sucrose
• Honey
• Dextrose
• Maltose
• Fructose
• Hydrolysed
• Starch

 

If there is a traffic light system on the packaging, red or amber means it is bad for your teeth. In general, if there are more than 15g of sugar in 100g then it is high sugar and less then 5g in 100g is low.