Improve your dental health - food
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Eat regular meals and avoid snacking
OK, so that doesn't sound like much of a surprise, but a modern diet filled with sugary snacks is pretty bad for your teeth.
And the big thing is not how 'much' sugar you eat, but how 'often' you eat sugar.
- Sugar reacts with the bacteria in plaque and this leads to tooth decay.
- After you've eaten a sugary snack, your mouth is basically under attack for between 45-60 minutes. The saliva in your mouth normally acts as a buffer and helps keep your teeth healthy, but sugar lowers something called the pH level in your mouth, making it more acidic and so attacking the enamel on your teeth. It takes an hour for levels to get back to normal.
- If you graze regularly on sugary snacks throughout the day, the more often your mouth is under attack from acid, wearing down your teeth.
What's more, new research shows that you can get protection against gum disease from eating fruit and veg that are high in antioxidants.
- Next: Why tea is great for your teeth
More help and advice
- Read more about dental plaque and gum disease
- An expert's advice on how to keep your teeth pain-free
- Treating dental plaque and gum disease
- Tips on getting rid of bad breath
By Rob Mansfield
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