sugar q&a

When you eat foods containing sugars, bacteria in the plaque feed on the sugar to produce plaque acids which attack tooth enamel. As this happens, the level of acidity in the mouth increases (pH falls), leaving the enamel at risk of demineralisation and, therefore, decay. The more often you eat or drink products that contain sugars, the more acid attacks your teeth will suffer.

Plaque is a soft, sticky bacterial deposit that forms on the surface of the teeth.

Saliva, especially stimulated saliva, helps neutralise plaque acid in the mouth and prevent decay from occurring. It can also help repair the early stages of decay, as well as washing out food and other debris from the mouth.

Chewing ORBIT Complete sugarfree gum after eating can help prevent tooth decay. It works by stimulating the production of saliva and helps prevent and reverse the early stages of decay.

Different types of sugars exist – some more damaging than others:

• Non-milk extrinsic sugars (NMEs) cause the most dental decay and are those which are added to food and drinks during manufacture, processing or food preparation. These account for almost three quarters of all sugars eaten and can be found in confectionery, soft drinks, cakes, biscuits, table sugar and a range of snacks and ready foods.
• Sugars that are naturally present in foods such as milk, fruit and vegetables are called intrinsic sugars and are much less decay causing (if at all) than those added to foods and drinks.

It is the frequency of sugar consumption, even more than the quantity, that is important. It is better to eat a bar of chocolate all in one ‘hit’ and as part of a meal than to graze on it over several hours.

We recommend unflavoured water, milk or unsweetened tea and coffee. Children’s teeth are particularly prone to damage from sugars, but few drinks are completely safe for teeth – even sugarfree drinks can contain acid. Acidic drinks such as orange juice, squash and fizzy drinks can carry a risk of erosion to tooth enamel and should be consumed in moderation – however, do not clean your teeth immediately after drinking them. When you eat or drink something acidic, the acid softens the tooth surface and if you brush your teeth straight away you increase the chance of wearing teeth away. Ideally you should leave a minimum of half an hour before brushing to allow your saliva to have chance to buffer any harmful effects or chew some ORBIT Complete sugarfree gum to accelerate the process.

It is thought that drinking through a straw positioned at the back of the mouth may reduce dental erosion caused by soft drinks – the straw reduces the degree of contact between the drink and the teeth, compared with drinking from a cup. A narrow straw is better than a wide one.

Children: skimmed milk is not recommended for children under the age of five as it's too low in calories and contains only very small amounts of vitamins A and D, all of which children need; always dilute fruit juices given to children.

Sugars have been included in some medicines to make them more palatable, but these can also cause decay. Ask your doctor or pharmacist for sugarfree alternatives.

Become label-conscious and look out for hidden sugars, especially in prepared meals, even savoury dishes. These may come under different names, such as dextrose, frucrose, glucose, glucose syrup, hydrolysed starch, invert sugar, maltose and sucrose.

• Try to increase the amount of vegetables, fruit, low fat cheese and dairy products, fish and unprocessed foods in the diet
• Have low fat cheese and fruit instead of sweet deserts
• Replace fatty and sugary food by cereal and starch food
• Choose sugarfree options, including sugarfree chewing gum
• Keep the likes of honey and jam, sweets and chocolates, cakes and biscuits, crisps and fried food for occasional treats, preferably at mealtimes when saliva production is high and can neutralise plaque acids
• Limit sweet or acidic soft drinks to mealtime, so that the production of saliva can help counter the effect of the acids in the mouth
• Drink skimmed or semi-skimmed milk or water between meals