Whose Oral Health is Affected by Poor Nutritional Habits?

Whose Oral Health is Affected by Poor Nutritional Habits?

Minerals and Nutrients Necessary for Oral Health

The number of people consuming sugar-filled sodas, sweetened fruit drinks and snacks that contain little, if any, nutritional value is skyrocketing among the general population.

Eating patterns and food choices, particularly among children and teens, are important factors that affect how quickly tooth decay develops. Dentists believe that children who consume too much soda are more prone to tooth decay and serious ailments, such as diabetes and osteoporosis, later in life. However, foods high in carbohydrates, as well as some fruits, juices and sodas, peanut butter, crackers and potato chips, also contribute to cavities in children.

The elderly, individuals on restrictive diets and those undergoing medical treatment may be too isolated, weak or lack the appetite, time, resources or money to eat nutritionally balanced meals at a time when it is especially vital. As a result, these individuals may be afflicted by tooth loss, pain or a joint dysfunction such as temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorder, all of which can impair an individual's ability to taste, bite, chew and swallow foods.

People who are severely underweight or overweight (struggling with obesity), who have recently lost weight and/or are malnourished or take medications (steroids, immunosuppressants, chemotherapeutic agents, etc.), may have a poor nutritional state that could negatively impact their dental caries rate, also.

If you or someone you know is experiencing any of these circumstances, talk to your dentist about solutions and remedies to the situation. It is important to keep all members of your healthcare team informed and up-to-date about your medical history, lifestyle and eating habits so they can work together to identify, prevent and/or control oral and medical health risks.

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Nutrition affects teeth during development. Poor nutrition may exacerbate periodontal disease, a leading cause of tooth loss in adults, as well as other oral infectious diseases. Although poor nutrition does not cause gum disease directly, many researchers think the disease progresses faster and more severely in people with poor nutritional habits.

Therefore, getting the proper amount of vitamins, minerals, fats and protein is essential for the growth and regeneration of normal tissues, as well as your body's ability to fight infections. Carbohydrates, fat and protein supply the energy your body needs for tissue maintenance and repair. Along with vitamin C, vitamins A, E, B, K and D are essential for healing and a quicker recovery time. For example, vitamin A significantly contributes to healing by reducing the inflammatory period of tissue repair.

Important minerals and nutrients your body needs to stay healthy include the following:

Calcium:
Your teeth and jaws are made mostly of calcium. Without enough calcium in your diet, you may develop gum disease and tooth decay. Calcium is found in many foods and liquids, such as milk and dairy products, beans, broccoli, nuts and oysters.

Iron:
Iron deficiency can cause tongue inflammation and mouth sores. Iron is found in foods such as red meat, bran cereals and some nuts and spices.

Vitamin B3 (niacin):
A lack of vitamin B3 can cause bad breath and canker sores. To boost your B3 levels, eat chicken and fish.

Vitamins B12 and B2 (riboflavin):
Mouth sores can develop when you do not get enough Vitamins B12 and B2. Red meat, chicken, liver, pork and fish, as well as dairy products like milk, yogurt and cheese, are good sources of vitamin B12. Vitamin B2 is found in foods like pasta, bagels, spinach and almonds.

Vitamin C:
Vitamin C deficiency may lead to bleeding gums and loose teeth. Sweet potatoes, raw red peppers and oranges are great sources of vitamin C.

Vitamin D:
Vitamin D helps your body absorb calcium, which helps build strong bones and teeth. A diet lacking or low in vitamin D can lead to burning mouth syndrome. Symptoms of this condition include a burning mouth sensation, a metallic or bitter taste in your mouth and mouth dryness. To increase your vitamin D intake, drink milk, and eat egg yolks and fish. Limited amounts of sunshine help the body to produce Vitamin D.

Destruction of enamel

Destruction of enamel

The high mineral content of enamel, which makes this tissue the hardest in the human body, also makes it susceptible to a demineralization process which often occurs as dental caries, otherwise known as cavities.[16] Demineralization occurs for several reasons, but the most important cause of tooth decay is the ingestion of sugars. Tooth cavities are caused when acids dissolve tooth enamel:

Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2(s) + 8H+(aq) → 10Ca2+(aq) + 6HPO42-(aq) + 2H2O(l)

Sugars from candies, soft drinks, and even fruit juices play a significant role in tooth decay, and consequently in enamel destruction. The mouth contains a great number and variety of bacteria, and when sucrose, the most common of sugars, coats the surface of the mouth, some intraoral bacteria interact with it and form lactic acid, which decreases the pH in the mouth.Then, the hydroxylapatite crystals of enamel demineralize, allowing for greater bacterial invasion deeper into the tooth. The most important bacterium involved with tooth decay is Streptococcus mutans, but the number and type of bacteria varies with the progress of tooth destruction.

Furthermore, tooth morphology dictates that the most common site for the initiation of dental caries is in the deep grooves, pits, and fissures of enamel. This is expected because these locations are impossible to reach with a toothbrush and allow for bacteria to reside there. When demineralization of enamel occurs, a dentist can use a sharp instrument, such as a dental explorer, and "feel a stick" at the location of the decay. As enamel continues to become less mineralized and is unable to prevent the encroachment of bacteria, the underlying dentin becomes affected as well. When dentin, which normally supports enamel, is destroyed by a physiologic condition or by decay, enamel is unable to compensate for its brittleness and breaks away from the tooth easily.

The extent to which tooth decay is likely, known as cariogenicity, depends on factors such as how long the sugar remains in the mouth. Contrary to common belief, it is not the amount of sugar ingested but the frequency of sugar ingestion that is the most important factor in the causation of tooth decay.[28] When the pH in the mouth initially decreases from the ingestion of sugars, the enamel is demineralized and left vulnerable for about 30 minutes. Eating a greater quantity of sugar in one sitting does not increase the time of demineralization. Similarly, eating a lesser quantity of sugar in one sitting does not decrease the time of demineralization. Thus, eating a great quantity of sugar at one time in the day is less detrimental than is a very small quantity ingested in many intervals throughout the day. For example, in terms of oral health, it is better to eat a single dessert at dinner time than to snack on a bag of candy throughout the day.

In addition to bacterial invasion, enamel is also susceptible to other destructive forces. Bruxism, also known as clenching of or grinding on teeth, destroys enamel very quickly. The wear rate of enamel, called attrition, is 8 micrometers a year from normal factors. A common misconception is that enamel wears away mostly from chewing, but actually teeth rarely touch during chewing. Furthermore, normal tooth contact is compensated physiologically by the periodontal ligaments (pdl) and the arrangement of dental occlusion. The truly destructive forces are the parafunctional movements, as found in bruxism, which can cause irreversible damage to the enamel.

Other nonbacterial processes of enamel destruction include abrasion (involving foreign elements, such as toothbrushes), erosion (involving chemical processes, such as lemon juice), and possibly abfraction (involving compressive and tensile forces).

Though enamel is described as tough, it has a similar brittleness to glass making it unlike other natural crack-resistant laminate structures such as shell and nacre potentially vulnerable to fracture. In spite of this it can withstand the bite forces as high as 1,000 N many times a day during chewing. This resistance is due in part to the microstructure of enamel which contains processes, enamel tufts, that stabilize the growth of such fractures at the dentinoenamel junction.The configuration of the tooth also acts to reduce the tensile stresses that cause fractures during biting.