Bad For Teeth Diets Are Bad For Body As Well

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Toothache is signs that future medical problems can appear. Dr. Philippe P. Hujoel, professor at the University of Washington (UW) School of Dentistry in Seattle considers that diet of excessive fermentable carbohydrates will lead to dental diseases, and then to other chronic diseases. Fermentable carbohydrates are not just sweets like cookies, cakes, candies, but also bananas, dried fruits, rice, pasta, corn.

Dr. Hujoel examined the influence of dietary carbohydrates on dental health and general health in a study published in the Journal of Dental Research. He reviewed two opposite perspectives trying to find which one is closer to the truth.

One perspective — some fermentable carbohydrates are beneficial for health, and dental problems can be avoided using prevention measures such as brushing and fluorides. The other perspective — carbohydrates are viewed harmful to the dental health and general health, both should be limited in all the diets.

The two perspectives have initiated debates in examining the relationship between dental problems and medical diseases as obesity, diabetes, cancer.

For the past twenty years people were recommended to include carbohydrates in their diet, assumed that this will prevent certain systemic diseases, Hujoel says. The high-carbohydrate diets eventually lead to dental problems such as cavities and gum diseases. Dental prevention measurements protected the oral health only in some cases.

Almost every health organization has asserted that fermentable carbohydrates are harmful for dental health, Hujoel notes. Certain carbohydrates assumed to be beneficial to overall health, also promote dental problems.

Dr. Hojuel is worried that dietary journals would start ignoring medical researches and publishing false facts related to fermentable carbohydrates. This will affect the work of dentists, making for them difficult to suggest patients low-carbohydrate diets when dietary journals recommend the opposite.

The bacteria that live in the mouth turn the fermentable carbohydrates into acid which dilutes the teeth. Also researches show that high-carbohydrate intake will raise the blood sugar levels. These facts strengthen the hypothesis that Alzheimer’s disease and pancreatic cancer have a common cause – high-glycemic diet.

Hujoel says that two physicians: Thomas Cleave and John Yudkin have made studies on the hypothesis -dental diseases as a sign for future systemic diseases in the middle of 20th century. Nowadays their researches are very little regarded. This is bad, because dental decay is a very rapid sign meaning that there are some problems in the current diet.

Tooth decay can be stopped in a few weeks or months by using general dental prevention measurements. Such a case is limiting the consumption of carbohydrates will be beneficial for gum’s health, usually in short terms. The rapid and noticeable evolution of dental disease is useful for detecting medical diseases and preventing them. But systemic illnesses can progress up to decades without being detected in medical tests.

In everyday consumption Hujoel recommends nutrition that benefits your dental health as it will also improve your general health.