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There is a lot of money in the tooth illness industry. However, none of my dentists ever told me to just quit all added sugar, which I did 'accidentally'. All

There is a lot of money in the tooth illness industry. However, none of my dentists ever told me to just quit all added sugar, which I did 'accidentally'. All of that expense and missing teeth was all for nothing, all I needed to do was homecook all my own food and not eat added sugar. Who knew it could be so easy. Having excellent oral hygiene with gums grown back, no sensitive teeth or much need to brush teeth is an unusual and unexpected self-esteem superpower. I would not give it up just to eat cake or anything else contaminated with added sugar. Off topic, I know, but, anyone wanting tooth regrowth, or with $5K root canal work and dental hygienist bills, just avoid all processed foods and all added sugar for a month. You don't have to ask permission from the doctor or the dentist to do this, but, if you do, then you might never need to see them ever again.

Sharlin 2y ago
(Edit: removed unnecessary sarcasm) I'm rather baffled that it's possible to not know that sugar is bad for your teeth, as it's pretty much the most often repeated fact about teeth ever. Technically sugar itself doesn't do anything to teeth. But sugar is food for bacteria. Sugar in mouth = mouth bacteria happily multiply and literally form a biofilm covering your teeth (plaque). Some of them excrete acidic metabolic products. Acid dissolves enamel (hydroxyapatite). The bacteria infestation also irritates gums and causes gingvitis and so on. Less food for bacteria = fewer bacteria = healthier teeth.
- dang 2y ago
  Please make your substantive points without crossing into personal attack. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
chaorace 2y ago
I'm with you when it comes to advocating against added sugars and spreading the word about how surprisingly resilient teeth are when given a good environment... but I do think you've hurt your own argument by overstating the case. First: Calculus forms within hours of eating just about any meal. Sugars make this much worse, but to a certain extent it is unavoidable. Regular appointments with a hygienist will improve your long-term dental health regardless of diet, though the necessary frequency can be decreased in many cases with a good diet. Second: Please don't stop brushing your teeth, especially if you want fewer dentist appointments. It's one of the cheapest and safest investments you can possibly make in your body. Just because you can't feel the plaque doesn't mean that it's not there. Third: Added sugars are just really, terribly bad for you in general. I'm speaking now to those that don't care much about their teeth: you can do so much for your long-term health by simply checking for this one thing on labels. I know it's an odd concept to think of added sugars as being so much worse than "natural" sugars when they're fundamentally the same molecules, but it's true -- the differences in solubility/bioavailability have a very outsized impact.
- ornornor 2y ago
  How do you tell of something has added sugars or not? The nutritional facts all lump it under “carbohydrates, of which sugars” without making a distinction between added sugar and the sugar that comes with the ingredients.
  - chaorace 2y ago
    The label was updated in 2016. Please refer to the official FDA guide to the updated nutrition facts label[1], item #4. [1]: https://www.fda.gov/media/135197/download https://www.fda.gov/media/135197/download
    - ornornor 2y ago
      Nice, we don’t have this in Europe. It’s still all together.
      - chaorace 2y ago
        My mistake. I honestly thought we were one of the very last places to implement this change -- I know the viewpoint is still overly America-centric... just not in the usual way lol
  - Theodores 2y ago
    Initially this is hard but then you soon realise that you are never buying processed food ever again and everything is a single ingredient food. There may be one or two exceptions and often tinned things have a preservative or an acidity regulator in there too. What this means is that there is no puzzling over food labels. If you are buying carrots then they are just carrots. Initially this seems a bit extreme as there seems to be nothing in the supermarket to buy. On my most recent trip I saw some of my former 'friends' including what was once my favourite frozen pizza. There was nothing toxic about it, once you have embraced home cooking, then nothing processed or ready made is satisfactory. In the case of the pizza, my home made pizza will be in a different league of taste, it might not be to everyone's liking but, for me, it will be like being on a drug high. I can't get that buzz from store bought food and it certainly does not list 'natural opiates released per bite' on the nutrition labels. When you seriously get into buying the vegetables, there is always so much that you have not bought or cooked with before. These things have always been there and they are not weird, but, for some reason you have not decided to cook with them in new and exciting ways. Processed meals mean you don't have to. Then you start mixing in herbs and all of the nutrition labels are left far, far behind. They have different meaning with processed food to real food made with single ingredient items, most of which are vegetables. Carbohydrates also shift from the cheap ones in processed food to being much better quality and best described as 'nutrient rich fibre'.
kanbankaren 2y ago
> my dentists ever told me to just quit all added sugar, Hmm. People have been shouting that sugar is bad for a few decades. > and all added sugar for a month. When I go shopping, if a food item contains more than 20% sugar(irrespective whether it is added or natural), I don't buy it which means I come home only with natural produce. Also, only Splenda in coffee & tea. I have been maintaining this lifestyle for more than a decade and haven't developed any new cavities.
yeureka 2y ago
My father doesn't eat sweets. He has a very healthy diet - whole grains, vegetables, etc. Never had a cavity nor gum disease. Because of that he never went to the dentist to have a check up. He ended up loosing all his teeth from hardened plaque below the gum line. His teeth just fell off, one after another, because he never learned good dental hygiene.

Sharlin 2y ago

(Edit: removed unnecessary sarcasm) I'm rather baffled that it's possible to not know that sugar is bad for your teeth, as it's pretty much the most often repeated fact about teeth ever. Technically sugar itself doesn't do anything to teeth. But sugar is food for bacteria. Sugar in mouth = mouth bacteria happily multiply and literally form a biofilm covering your teeth (plaque). Some of them excrete acidic metabolic products. Acid dissolves enamel (hydroxyapatite). The bacteria infestation also irritates gums and causes gingvitis and so on. Less food for bacteria = fewer bacteria = healthier teeth.

dang 2y ago
Please make your substantive points without crossing into personal attack. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

chaorace 2y ago

I'm with you when it comes to advocating against added sugars and spreading the word about how surprisingly resilient teeth are when given a good environment... but I do think you've hurt your own argument by overstating the case. First: Calculus forms within hours of eating just about any meal. Sugars make this much worse, but to a certain extent it is unavoidable. Regular appointments with a hygienist will improve your long-term dental health regardless of diet, though the necessary frequency can be decreased in many cases with a good diet. Second: Please don't stop brushing your teeth, especially if you want fewer dentist appointments. It's one of the cheapest and safest investments you can possibly make in your body. Just because you can't feel the plaque doesn't mean that it's not there. Third: Added sugars are just really, terribly bad for you in general. I'm speaking now to those that don't care much about their teeth: you can do so much for your long-term health by simply checking for this one thing on labels. I know it's an odd concept to think of added sugars as being so much worse than "natural" sugars when they're fundamentally the same molecules, but it's true -- the differences in solubility/bioavailability have a very outsized impact.

ornornor 2y ago
How do you tell of something has added sugars or not? The nutritional facts all lump it under “carbohydrates, of which sugars” without making a distinction between added sugar and the sugar that comes with the ingredients.
- chaorace 2y ago
  The label was updated in 2016. Please refer to the official FDA guide to the updated nutrition facts label[1], item #4. [1]: https://www.fda.gov/media/135197/download https://www.fda.gov/media/135197/download
  - ornornor 2y ago
    Nice, we don’t have this in Europe. It’s still all together.
    - chaorace 2y ago
      My mistake. I honestly thought we were one of the very last places to implement this change -- I know the viewpoint is still overly America-centric... just not in the usual way lol
- Theodores 2y ago
  Initially this is hard but then you soon realise that you are never buying processed food ever again and everything is a single ingredient food. There may be one or two exceptions and often tinned things have a preservative or an acidity regulator in there too. What this means is that there is no puzzling over food labels. If you are buying carrots then they are just carrots. Initially this seems a bit extreme as there seems to be nothing in the supermarket to buy. On my most recent trip I saw some of my former 'friends' including what was once my favourite frozen pizza. There was nothing toxic about it, once you have embraced home cooking, then nothing processed or ready made is satisfactory. In the case of the pizza, my home made pizza will be in a different league of taste, it might not be to everyone's liking but, for me, it will be like being on a drug high. I can't get that buzz from store bought food and it certainly does not list 'natural opiates released per bite' on the nutrition labels. When you seriously get into buying the vegetables, there is always so much that you have not bought or cooked with before. These things have always been there and they are not weird, but, for some reason you have not decided to cook with them in new and exciting ways. Processed meals mean you don't have to. Then you start mixing in herbs and all of the nutrition labels are left far, far behind. They have different meaning with processed food to real food made with single ingredient items, most of which are vegetables. Carbohydrates also shift from the cheap ones in processed food to being much better quality and best described as 'nutrient rich fibre'.

kanbankaren 2y ago

> my dentists ever told me to just quit all added sugar, Hmm. People have been shouting that sugar is bad for a few decades. > and all added sugar for a month. When I go shopping, if a food item contains more than 20% sugar(irrespective whether it is added or natural), I don't buy it which means I come home only with natural produce. Also, only Splenda in coffee & tea. I have been maintaining this lifestyle for more than a decade and haven't developed any new cavities.

yeureka 2y ago

My father doesn't eat sweets. He has a very healthy diet - whole grains, vegetables, etc. Never had a cavity nor gum disease. Because of that he never went to the dentist to have a check up. He ended up loosing all his teeth from hardened plaque below the gum line. His teeth just fell off, one after another, because he never learned good dental hygiene.