Healthy news and information from Exquisite Smiles / 2019 July Issue
It lurks in bread, tomato sauce, salad dressings, pasta sauces and a multitude of other foods. It’s sugar and it’s sneaky! If you’re trying to cut more of this nutritionally vacant substance out of your diet, you need to know some of its many aliases.
If you’re not an avid label reader, it’s a good idea to become one. Then you’ll understand if sugar is impersonating another ingredient, including high fructose corn syrup, dextrose, fructose, glucose, sucrose, maltodextrin and many others.
In addition to reading the ingredients on a food label, it’s also important to see how many grams of sugar are in a single serving. You might be surprised to discover that foods that aren’t considered to be sweet treats can be relatively high in this sticky substance. Slash sugar from your diet and get regular preventative dental checkups to smile brilliantly!
They’re considered our best accessory, help us enjoy the foods we love and can be used to brighten someone’s day. With two sets of them during our lives, our teeth are truly amazing. But how much do you really know about your pearly whites?
Fact #1: During your lifetime, you’ll probably spend 38 days brushing your teeth.
Fact #2:Â Speaking of brushing, contemporary toothpaste has been around for nearly a century. What was used before toothpaste was invented? Chalk, lemon juice and charcoal ashes.
Fact #3:Â By brushing each day, you can lower tooth decay risk by 25%.
Fact #4: If you neglect to floss, close to 35% of your tooth’s surface will not get cleaned.
Fact #5:Â Over the course of our lives, we generate enough saliva to fill two swimming pools!
Oh, and one more fact. Brushing, flossing and getting regular preventative dental checkups can keep your smile bright.
Keeping your teeth free of cracks and cavities can be as simple as taking inventory of your snacks. While calcium-rich foods and crunchy fruits and vegetables are great choices not only for your oral health but overall health, other foods can tarnish your teeth.
Soft, sticky sweets such as taffy and caramels cling to your teeth’s surface, contributing to tooth decay. Likewise, hard sweets can leave your teeth bathed in cavity-causing sugar. Not only that, if you bite down on a hard sweet your tooth could chip!
While popcorn isn’t the worst offender when it comes to tooth damage, chewing uncooked kernels can cause cracks in your teeth. Chances are you wash your snacks down with some type of beverage. Choose water, as sodas are high in decay-causing sugar.
Want a brighter smile? Make teeth-smart snack selections, brush and floss each day, and get regular preventative checkups.
