Oral Health
What is Oral Health?
A person’s oral health involves their teeth, gums, and the entire oral-facial system that allows them to smile, speak, and chew. Our oral health is affected by a number of diseases, including cavities (tooth decay), gum disease (periodontal disease), and oral cancer.
How your diet affects your Oral health
The foods you eat and how often you eat them can affect your oral health – the health of your teeth and gums. If you consume too many sugar-filled drinks or non-nutritious snacks, you could be at risk of tooth decay. Decay occurs when plaque encounters sugar in the mouth causing acid to attack the teeth. Tooth decay is directly related to the presence of sucrose ( cane sugar ).
In lay terms you can roughly say that every time you had any amount of sugar in any form, be it in a drink, sweet or snack, it takes about 60 minutes ( 1 hour ) for your mouth’s saliva to neutralize its effect.
It’s not only what you eat that counts
For healthy teeth and gums, think before you eat and drink. It’s not only what you eat but when you eat that can affect your oral health. For e.g: since your saliva production is only 10% when you sleep, you should avoid eating or drinking for the last hour before you go to sleep.
Tips for Good Oral Heath | When Choosing your daily meals …
• Drink plenty of water.
• Eat a variety of foods from each of the five major food groups, including:
o whole grains
o fruits
o vegetables
o lean sources of protein such as lean beef, skinless poultry and fish; dry beans, peas and other legumes
o low-fat and fat-free dairy foods
Dental and Oral problems
Limit the number of snacks you consume during the day and choose healthy options such as fruit or vegetables. Foods eaten during a meal cause less harm to teeth than eating lots of snacks throughout the day as more saliva is released during a meal. Saliva helps wash foods from the mouth and decreases the effects of acids which results in cavities.
For good oral health, always brush twice a day, floss daily and see your dentist for regular check-ups. With regular dental care, your dentist can help prevent oral problems from occurring and catch those that do occur in the early stages, while they are easy to treat.
Dental and oral diseases
Oral health refers to the health of the teeth, gums, and the entire oral-facial system that allows us to smile, speak, and chew. Some of the most common diseases that impact our oral health include cavities (tooth decay), gum (periodontal) disease, and oral cancer.
More than 40% of adults report having felt pain in their mouth within the last year, and more than 80% of people will have had at least one cavity by age 34. The nation spends more than $124 billion on costs related to dental care each year. On average, over 34 million school hours and more than $45 billion in productivity are lost each year as a result of dental emergencies requiring unplanned care.
