Diamons

sugar

Photography by Dr. Padval

Soft Drinks Pack a Hard Punch

Soft drinks are bad for your teeth in more ways than one. There’s sugar, and then there’s acidity. The sugar provides necessary food for the bad bacteria in your mouth. If you’re drinking the national average of two cans of soft drinks a day, you’re giving aid and sustenance to the enemy. Bacteria eat what you eat, and sugar sends them into overdrive. But sugar isn’t the worst culprit. Fizz is. The bubble in carbonated beverages comes from carbonic acid. That acid eats through [...]

By |2023-12-22T15:02:34-08:00February 27, 2024|Patient Education|

The Season and the Sweet Tooth

Food has always played a starring role in holiday traditions. From Thanksgiving turkey to the Hanukkah challah to bouche noel, what we eat defines the occasion (and some of our most lingering memories). It’s no wonder that by January, laments about misplaced waistlines ring out as often as “Happy New Year!” But when it comes to holiday feasting, there’s more at stake than shock at the bathroom scales. One obvious pitfall is the abundance of cakes, cookies, candies, and pies—and the extra indulgence that [...]

By |2023-09-05T08:00:54-07:00September 5, 2023|Patient Education|

Developing Good Habits

To Protect Children's Teeth Food & Drink Eating and drinking habits are the biggest factors in preventing childhood cavities. But, just as important as what children eat, is when they eat it. To encourage positive eating habits and prevent cavities, limit eating time to 4 or 5 periods during the day (rather than continuous snacking). By reducing the amount of time that food directly contacts teeth, you help reduce the formation of bacteria and plaque. Additionally, avoid meals and snacks that have a large [...]

By |2020-06-02T08:00:39-07:00June 2, 2020|Children's Dentistry|

Choosing Breakfast

For Better Nutrition and Dental Health! It's often said that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and there's a lot of truth behind it. Though the links between eating, blood sugar levels, and performance aren't fully understood, the evidence suggests that eating breakfast boosts energy and attention span in the morning hours. But the benefits depend on the menu. From the standpoint of nutrition and dental health, the day's first meal can present a dilemma. You probably know that many cereals [...]

By |2020-04-21T08:00:56-07:00April 21, 2020|Nutrition|

About Sugar

We Eat More Than We Think! The only thing good about sugar is...it tastes good! After that, it's all downhill... it's high in calories, provides only a brief increase in energy, and greatly increases the growth of bacteria and tooth decay potential. When Eskimos lived a sugar-free diet, their teeth were perfect. No cavities! Once whalers and traders introduced them to a Western diet, tooth decay skyrocketed. So, while you may not think that you're eating too much in your diet, beware of hidden [...]

By |2019-10-15T08:00:03-07:00October 15, 2019|Nutrition|

A Few Tips on Nutrition

Get Your Vitamins! Vitamin C is an extremely important in dentistry (and nutrition in general) because of how it helps control periodontal disease and other problems in the mouth. For one thing, Vitamin C—ascorbic acid—seems to help calcium do its job of halting the loss of bone. Animal studies at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine have shown that Vitamin C can inhibit bone shrinkage by 50% or more. But Vitamin C does a lot more than that! It's essential to construct the protein [...]

By |2018-07-24T00:00:40-07:00July 24, 2018|Nutrition|

Preventing Cavities in Your Baby’s Teeth

Eating & Drinking Don't let it continue throughout the day. Limit to 4 or 5 periods. This especially includes apple juice, raisins. Residual fruit sugars easily damage baby teeth. Restricting unlimited contact between food and teeth is the most important factor in preventing cavities! Brushing Remember: thorough brushing is more important than frequent brushing. Thorough flossing is just as important. Most kids under 7 are going to need assistance. Regular hygiene is the second most important factor in preventing cavities! Fluoridation Important for teeth [...]

By |2018-04-10T08:00:42-07:00April 10, 2018|Children's Dentistry|

Eating Too Much Sugar…

The diet of today is the result of a 50-year increase in consumption of the rapidly absorbed sugars—specifically, soft drinks, commercial juices, candy, and easily digested sugar foods such as cakes, cookies, etc. This change has generally gone unnoticed by consumers, until very recently it has been unquestionably assumed that this is "the way this age is." However, now it has become increasingly apparent that we suffer from more and more glucose (sugar) metabolism diseases and dental caries because of poor diet. These high-energy [...]

By |2017-10-17T00:00:21-07:00October 17, 2017|Patient Education|

Vending Machines: Cavity Dispensers

Vending machines put out all kinds of stuff. But vending machines at work or school can dispense cavities right along with the candy and soda pop that we love so much in afternoon pick-me-ups. So-called soft drinks don't do teeth any favors. Not even diet soda. That's because sugar isn't the real culprit. It's carbonic acid—the stuff that gives soft drinks their fizzy bubbles can be deadly to tooth enamel. A sugary uncarbonated drink like Kool-Aid is actually easier on teeth than, say, Diet [...]

By |2017-07-11T00:00:33-07:00July 11, 2017|Patient Education|

Alcohol and Your Health…

Just the Facts There's so much conflicting information regarding drinking alcohol blasting at us these days. A glass of red wine is good? Is even drinking at all a good idea? It's a matter of proportion. The facts are these. First, alcohol affects women more than men. Because men tend to be heavier in muscle mass, their bodies can process slightly more alcohol with fewer negative consequences than women's. But there's something else: the amount of an enzyme known as gastric alcohol dehydrogenase that's [...]

By |2017-03-14T00:00:35-07:00March 14, 2017|Patient Education|