Many people think that simply consuming less sugar is going to lead to healthier teeth and gums, but this is not quite the case. Though decreasing your sugar intake is a good idea for maintaining a healthy body, the name of the game for our Lynnwood Dentistry is less about eating less sugar and more about properly portioning the sugar you eat.

The real enemy of your teeth is carbohydrates, and sugar is only one of these. Carbs are virtually impossible to avoid, and it would be inadvisable to eliminate them from your diet entirely. So, instead of cutting down on what you eat, try cutting down on how frequently you eat. Eating three large meals a day and not snacking in the interim time is healthier for your teeth than eating the same amount of food in small portions throughout the day.

The thing to understand here is that, when you eat, your oral bacteria gets to eat too. While it eats, it is producing the harsh acids that compromise your tooth enamel. Your mouth is under attack by these acids from between twenty to thirty minutes after you finish your meal, so you need to allow for significant breaks between meals to allow this acidic assault to let up.

Try to imagine that you have a single eight-ounce soda, for example. If you drink the entire soda in one minute, your oral bacteria is releasing acid for a mere half hour. However, if you nurse this same soda by taking a single ounce every half hour, you are feeding the bacteria and subjecting your mouth to a four-and-a-half-hour assault. Your enamel cannot stand up too long against this.

Oral cancer makes up less than five percent of cancer cases in the country.  However, compared to many of the more common forms of cancer, it has a surprisingly high death rate.  If you would like to analyze your chances of suffering this horrible disease, our Lynnwood Dentistry offers the following list of risk factors:

• Men account for 70% of oral cancer cases, with men over fifty being at the highest risk.

• People who use tobacco have a far higher risk factor for oral cancer than those who do not.  This includes tobacco smoked in the form of a pipe, cigarette, or cigar, as well as smokeless tobacco products like chewing tobacco or snuff.

• Smoking marijuana puts you at a higher risk.

• Excessive consumption of alcohol greatly increases your risk, particularly if you are also a smoker.

• Excessive sun exposure can bring about oral cancer on the outside of your lips.

• An unbalanced diet can increase your risk of oral cancer.  In particular, you want to make sure you get enough vitamin A.

• As oral cancer can be caused by the HPV virus, oral sex can raise your risk factor.

• A family history of cancer can be indicative of a greater cancer risk.

You’re probably aware of all the bigger bullet-points about smoking, but did you know that smoking is also bad for your teeth? This goes beyond the ugly stains that it leaves behind; smoking is a serious threat to your oral health, and our Lynnwood dentist advises that you avoid the habit for the sake of your own teeth and, indeed, the teeth of those around you.

Tobacco smoke boasts a two-pronged attack against your mouth. Firstly, it compromises the growth of healthy gums, contributing strongly to gum disease. As this happens, it is also reducing the mineral density of bones and retarding the ability of your teeth to bounce back against tooth decay. Smokers are therefore far more likely to lose teeth than non-smokers.

Unfortunately, these problems aren’t limited to the smokers themselves. Secondhand smoke has also been shown to reduce bone density, plaguing anyone close to a smoker with a higher risk of tooth rot. If you smoke, do the right thing for yourself and for your loved ones: drop the habit immediately, and make an appointment with our Lynnwood Dentistry today.