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Friendly food tips for our patients to live by.
We know that there is an obesity epidemic in America. It seems like every month a new study comes out that shows that the rates of new cases of diabetes and heart disease are on the rise. Fortunately, Stamford, CT hasn’t seen the same significant increase in obesity. Consequently, but much less prominently featured in the news, is the fact that there has also been a large increase in the amount of tooth decay and gum disease in this country as well. Dental technology has been improving rapidly, but it isn’t always enough to overcome the damage that people do to themselves based on their eating and drinking habits. Too many people don’t realize that the health of the human body and the health of one’s teeth are inextricably linked. We at the Stein Dental Group feel that it is incredibly important to impress upon our patients that the two are related. There isn’t a perfect correlation, but many of the foods that are the worst for one’s health are also the worst for one’s teeth. Flossing and brushing one’s teeth, much like exercising, can only do so much if the core diet is really harmful. At the core of one’s overall health or one’s dental health is diet. A doctor or a dentist can help a lot, but ultimately the food choices that a person makes is of ultimate importance in determining how healthy they, or there teeth, end up being. The best way for a dentist to have an impact is to have a close caring relationship with the patient, this is something that the Stein Dental Group dentists in Stamford are careful to practice. As for food choices, the worst culprits, as we’ve all heard for years but often ignored, are foods and drinks loaded with sugars. Sodas, fruit drinks, cakes and cookies are terrible for the teeth and add no value to one’s overall health. We at the Stein Dental Group in Stamford hope to have patients for life and try to help overall health as well as dental health. Furthermore, say Stamford Connecticut dental researchers, the amount of time that teeth are exposed to bad sugars can be particularly harmful. Slowly drinking several sodas is worse than quickly drinking the same amount of soda. It seems counter intuitive, but it has been found to be true in numerous studies. That doesn’t mean that the best thing to do is to drink soda quickly, but rather to avoid it as much as possible. Sodas and most other sweets have no nutritional value and are a complete negative towards teeth. Tooth decay is the result of plaque coming into contact with sugar and then forming an acid. In some cases that acid can attack teeth for 20 minutes or more. Stamford, CT dentists at the Stein Dental Group make sure that people understand why they make the recommendations they do. If people understand the rationale behind why they’re being told what to do for their dental health, they are more likely to do it. The amount of correlation between general health and dental health is incredibly high, even more than most people suspect and we feel that it’s critical for people to understand. Of course, it’s not just a matter of cutting all sugars out of one’s diet. Milk and vegetables even have sugars, but dairy is a critical element to strengthening teeth and vegetables are an incredibly important source of vitamins and nutrients. The key is to read labels and avoid foods that have added sugars. Working with patients over the years, we try to make sure that everyone understands these facts. To us at the Stein Dental Group, we feel Stamford’s residents need to understand exactly how physical and dental health are linked. Natural sugars, such as those that appear in fruits are fine in normal amounts. Soft drinks and candies have enormous amounts of added sugars and are harmful to both health and teeth. Stamford Connecticut has been rated as healthier than the average American city, but people here (or anywhere) still need to be mindful of everything they eat. Certain foods are much harder on health than they are on teeth.