Fighting decay with 'sweets'.

We have recently seen a couple of patients who had developed some pretty thoughtless habits that nearly caused some very serious problems. One person was having some digestive problems and was consuming sugary mints quite regularly and the other was developing a dry mouth in the middle of the night and quenching his thirst with a sugary energy drink.

The individual with the energy drink habit is a senior high school student. He wanted to drink something that had a cap on it so that when he was thirsty in the middle of the night he wouldn't need to get up to go get something to drink. Unfortunately he chose an energy drink that had quite a bit of sugar. Apparently this didn't give him a sugar rush of energy that disturbed his sleep. Perhaps he was just drinking small sips from time to time in the middle of the night. Regardless, this nice young man came in for a check-up and noticed that his upper back teeth were feeling a little rough. On examination his back upper teeth both had large, deep cavities. When the decay was removed, one of them had decay just barely touching the nerve. When this happens there is about a 50% chance of this tooth needing a root canal in the future. I used the most sedative procedures possible when restoring this tooth and so far the root canal isn't needed. We are both hoping it won't be necessary in the future. There were 3 other cavities in his mouth that needed fillings that fortunately weren't nearly as deep.

The other patient is a 60 year old friend of mine from the area who was having some sensitivity with his last tooth on the lower right. It was so sensitive that it required much more anesthetic than is usually necessary. It was also decayed fairly deep below the gum line making the filling of this tooth much more difficult. Fortunately in this case the nerve was not touched/exposed by removal of the decay. However, the tooth was still quite sensitive for some weeks after treatment. It seems to be growing less sensitive with time which is an excellent sign. This patient had a total of 9 teeth with cavities in them. We are still finishing the cavities that aren't as deep as those that we had to deal with on an emergency basis.

We are recommending xylitol containing products for people that are consuming sweets. Xylitol should be the first ingredient listed when you are shopping for one of these products as Heidi our hygienist points out. Xylitol has been shown to help dramatically reduce decay when added to one's diet. This ingredient can actually help heal small cavities that have already started in teeth. Xylitol is naturally occurring in our bodies and is contained naturally in many foods. Up to 15 grams a day is safe for everyone. It also tastes great in contrast to many artificial sweetenters. The recommended amount to be consumed daily is 5 to 15 grams.

Sweets can be good for you too! You just need the right kind of sweets!