dental decay and diet

Diet and Dental Decay

At DentArtisans, we consider ourselves as diet sleuths. That’s because we can often see how diet can contribute to dental issues. Those issues include decay and erosion of teeth.

There is an established link between good teeth, gums and a good diet. Food choices and frequency are key factors as to why many people develop decay. Each time we eat or drink, sugars touch the teeth and help plaque acids attach to the tooth surfaces. The more frequent we snack the more times the plaque acid has a chance to penetrate to form tooth decay.

Did you know that Australians consume approximately $1.6 billion per year in soft drinks? The Australian Bureau of Statistics, suggest that the intake of soft drinks in Australia has grown rapidly in the past 30 years from around 47.3 L per person per year in 1969 to 113 L per person (children and adults) in 1999. Soft drinks, as well as fruit juices, are responsible for the increase for sugar in the diet and also relates to development of tooth decay.

Not only does a can of soft drink contain as much as 11 teaspoons of sugar, it also contains phosphoric acid and citric acid. These acids can permanent damage teeth by a process called “erosion”.

At DentArtisans, we are vigilant in the prevention of decay and erosion. Here are some things that we recommend that you can do to prevent such problems:

  • Limit fruit juices and soft drinks - milk and water is a better alternative.

  • Drink plenty of water in between and during meals.

  • Avoid sipping sweetened drinks over a long period of time.

  • Minimise snacking in between main meals and when snacking give preferences to nutritious foods.

  • Chewing sugar free gum after a meal can help lower your risk of dental decay.

  • If you drink alcohol, try to do so with your meals. Wines, beers and spirits can be highly acidic. Drinking acidic beverages during meal times reduce the potential for acid to compromise the teeth in comparison to without meals.

  • If you are taking prescribed medications, it may create dry mouth. See our updates on dry mouth for more details.

  • Brush twice a day with fluoridated toothpaste, floss daily and have six monthly dental check ups.

  • At your dental check up, we can also recommend products to replace loss of minerals due to acid attack in the teeth. This includes products such as “Tooth Mousse”, high fluoride and “ClinPro” pastes.


To book in your next decay preventive dental check up call us on 9518 7832.