For many years, people have been told eating sweet foods will cause tooth decay.  What in fact is more critical is how often in a day a person eats rather than what it is they are eating.

Anything in your diet, which contains a carbohydrate, will feed the bacteria in your mouth and increase the chance of tooth decay occurring.  This includes healthy snacks such as fruit, pasta bread etc…  Obviously these foods still need to be eaten to maintain a healthy body

So how do we solve this problem…?  Here are 5 handy tips to help you.

1. Try and eat at mealtimes only and avoid snacking in between.

2. Providing you brush your teeth twice a day your teeth will withstand these three acid attacks at breakfast, lunch and dinner and repair in the gaps between meals where no food is being eaten.  Chewing sugar free chewing gum also helps with this repair.

3. Eating only at meals allows you to eat a varied diet, which can safely include sweet food.

4. As a very basic rule, food safe to consume between meals includes cheese, tea with no sugar, milk and water.

5. This is especially Important for children as nursing bottles caries (shown below) can occur if left with juice between meals.

Damage to child's mouth caused by excessive consumption of sugary drinks

Diet/Sugar free drinks often contain acid instead of sugar, which is actually more damaging to teeth so these, should also be limited to meals.

Going out drinking alcohol also causes the mouth to become acidic.  It is useful to brush your teeth before going out as well as the usual times before going to bed and on a morning to help them withstand the alcohol.

If your lifestyle does not permit 3 meals a day and you find yourself snaking it may be wise to brush three times daily e.g. take your toothbrush to work to use before lunch.

Please consult your dentist if you have any concerns.