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Effects of Sugar on Teeth

Sugar is a very hard ingredient to avoid as it’s found in nearly everything from chocolate to cereal. Een naturally occurring sugar found in fruits and vegetables can cause harm to your teeth, but what kind of effects does sugar exactly have on them?

Loss of Enamel

First off is enamel. Enamel can be shaved away by bacteria, and this bacteria in particular feeds on sugar and can cause problems such as tooth decay, leading to tooth loss. In the case of tooth loss, there are implants and bridges available to restore your smile, but it’s much easier and less expensive to just limit sugar in your diet and to brush your teeth soon after having a food that contains it.

Frequent Toothaches

When sugar eats away at the teeth, nerves can become steadily exposed, making your teeth especially sensitive to hot and cold foods. Even the slightest touch may cause your jaw to begin throbbing.

Cavities

Much like with how sugar works with bacteria to eat away at enamel, that same bacteria is also capable of making holes in the teeth. This leads to cavities and an immediate trip to the dentist to get them filled. Cavities that fail to get filled can grow larger until the tooth can no longer be saved and will need to be extracted by a dentist.

Gum Disease

Sugar creates a paradise for bacteria, allowing it to thrive and to grow. Although your teeth can be attacked by this bacteria, your gums can also be a target. When bacteria eats away at your gums, it can cause gum disease, and also contributes to conditions such as periodontitis and gingivitis.

The takeaway message should be to limit your sugar consumption, and if you do eat a sugary food, be sure to brush your teeth as soon as possible to avoid the creation of bacteria.

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COVID-19 and Dental Offices

COVID-19 has altered the way that we approach activities and go about our day to day lives, including what services we can and cannot access. One of these services is seeing a dental professional. While most dental offices are continuing to offer care to those who need it most in emergencies, routine examinations such as dental cleanings have been brought to a halt. Why is this, and why are these restrictions in place?

COVID-19 is known to be spread through droplets, such as saliva, and not necessarily when someone sneezes either. Working in the mouth puts dentists in close contact with saliva and actively puts them at risk for contracting or picking up the virus and spreading it to another patient. Saliva droplets frequently spray when dentists do activities such as drilling, polishing, scaling, and rinsing, things that are involved with nearly every procedure. Therefore, until safety measures can be put in place, non-emergency trips to the dentist are postponed.

Non-emergency conditions and treatments that fall under this category include, but are not limited to:

  • Halitosis (bad breath)
  • Denture concerns
  • Clicking jaws
  • Crowns
  • Bridges
  • Veneers
  • Fillings (in most cases)
  • Mildly loose teeth (that aren’t at risk for coming out)

For what is considered an emergency, please reference our previous blog, and/or contact your local dentist to see what services they currently offer during this time.

For the foreseeable future, it looks as though COVID-19 will be a present part of our lives. In the meantime, while you wait for your dentist to give the “go-ahead”, please continue to maintain a healthy diet and stick to a rigorous oral hygiene routine.

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