Sugars And Dental Caries: How Much Sugar Should You Eat Per Day?

What is dental caries?

The colloquial term of dental caries is tooth decay. Tooth decay means the destruction of tooth enamel. When we take sugar, our oral bacteria use it to get energy and produce acid as their metabolite waste. This acid dissolves our teeth, enamels and dentine. This enamel decay leads to cavity and hole formation. Tooth decay even led to tooth abscess,

Many scientific studies have reported the direct link between free sugar consumption and tooth decay. 

This is the most common problem throughout the world after common flue. One out of three adults and one out of four children suffers from dental caries around the globe. Therefore, WHO and SCAN are advised to limit free sugar consumption.

Additive sugar not only damages your oral health but also contributes to diabetes mellitus. 

How excessive sugar consumption affects your oral health?

Added sugar and preservatives in foods and drinks play a crucial role in developing dental caries. Bacteria of our mouth use sugar to produce acid as the metabolic product, which gradually dissolves the tooth enamel. Tooth enamel is the upper layer of teeth that protects our teeth from damage. But sugar induces acid production that destroy the barrier of the enamels and causes dental caries.

In 2010, the world health organization (WHO) published a review paper with consistent evidence of a relationship between the amount of sugars intake and tooth decay. They also proved that dental caries are controlled when the free sugar intake is less than 10% of energy consumption. Tooth decay gradually increases with our age. Nutrition experts suggest that limiting sugars to less than 5% of energy consumption reduces the risk of tooth decay throughout our life.

On the other hand, the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SCAN) of the UK published a review paper in 2014. They proved the clear link between the intake of food with added sugar and the incidence of dental caries. Free sugar harm both deciduous teeth of children and permanent teeth of adults.

Now free sugars are found in almost every food, and they can deteriorate oral health. Therefore, dental care experts suggest taking more natural food instead of packaged food. For example, raw fruits are far better than fruit juice. Because raw fruits contain natural sugar and fibre, which is good for our health, you will get added sugar concentrates that damage our teeth in fruit juice.

Classification of sugar

Glucose, fructose, and galactose are monosaccharides, and Sucrose, maltose, and lactose are disaccharides. Both Monosaccharides and Di-saccharides are dietary sugars. Both of these sugar compounds are present in the natural food source. These mono and disaccharides food are easily transformed into energy. 

The term added sugar refers to added monosaccharides and disaccharides in honey, maple syrup, and high-fructose corn syrups, and molasses. Added sugar leads to excess sugar, and excess sugar is responsible for dental caries.

Fruits, vegetables, grains, milk, and milk products are enriched with natural sugar in their cellular structure.

Natural sugar does not make a crucial contribution to the development of dental caries. As raw sugar is present in whole fruits and vegetables, their fiber, water, Calcium, and polyphenolic compounds stimulate the salivary flow. It mitigates the severe risk of sugar.

Who classified sugar other than intrinsic natural sugar are free sugar which leads to dental caries.

Free sugar such as monosaccharides and disaccharides are unhealthy and causes obesity, oral problem, leads to diabetes. Free sugar consumption should be restricted for our health concerns. We should buy the sugar-free product. Choose no added sugar products and don’t buy artificial honey, fruit juices concentrate.

Dietary Advice:

Presently we used to consume too much amount of sugar in our diet. According to a WHO and SACN highlights report, we have to reduce the amount of sugar intake to 5% of our energy intake. The amount is equivalent to 7 teaspoons or 30 grams of sugar every day for an adult person. WHO also limit the sugar consumption of child, the perfect amount should be 24 gram for children of age 5-11 years and 19 grams for children of age 4-6 years.

If anybody takes more than the mentioned amount of sugar, it may cause obesity and dental problems.

There are also have different approaches to eradicate the problem of dental caries:

• Brushing your teeth twice a day with toothpaste enriched with fluoride, Floss your mouth daily.
• Avoid sugar-containing sticky food. Rinse your mouth and teeth with water after consuming sugary food
• Try to avoid oily snacks because excess oil produces acids that are responsible for tooth decay.
• Try to reduce sugar-containing soft drinks, fruit juice, and beverages.
• Take your sugary foods at mealtime only. When you take sweets or chocolate after big meals, usually you can’t eat much, and other foods nullify the effect of sugar.

Dental health is essential to lead a healthy life. If you are suffering from dental caries or tooth decay, don’t leave it untreated. You should contact top dental clinics in Dubai. They will provide better treatment to resolve the problem under the supervision of expert dentists completely.