Fluoride-Supplemented Balanced Diet Great for Caries Prevention

World Health Organization and the US. Department of Agriculture (USDA) have dropped low-carbohydrate diets that prevent tooth decay in favor of recommending high-carbohydrate diets which depend on fluoride and food fortification to reduce tooth damage and nutritional deficiencies, according to a recent article published in the journal Nutrients.

Advertisement

Dental Caries Disease

Dental caries is a disease that became prevalent with the start of cereal agriculture and rampant with the start of industrial sugar production. Scientific evidence supports the hypothesis that a diet leading to dental caries also leads to chronic non-communicable diseases (1^✔ ✔Trusted Source
American Dental Association. Nutrition and Oral Health

Go to source). Healthcare professionals took the view that dental caries is the only adverse side-effect of their high-carbohydrate nutritional guidelines, a side-effect that can be addressed with universal fluoride recommendations.

Major professional and health associations reversed this earlier position and began recommending high-carbohydrate diets over decades in the last century. Specifically, the American Heart Association, the American Diabetes Association, and the American Dental Association (ADA).

These organizations ignored scientific evidence weakening their claim that the only adverse health effect of a high-carbohydrate diet was dental cavities. Organizations such as the World Health Organization and the USDA then recommended increased use of fluoride to combat the risk of tooth decay.

Advertisement

How do Carbohydrates Influence Dental Caries?

In the meantime, some scientists provided compelling evidence that low-carbohydrate diets were at least as beneficial to health as high-carbohydrate diets. Low-carbohydrate diets help prevent tooth decay and make fluoride which has no tangible health benefits other than preventing cavities – largely unnecessary.

The new study traces this development toward fluoride-supplemented high-carbohydrate dietary guidelines back to the mid-twentieth century when leaders like Emory W. Morris, a dentist, and president of the Kellogg Foundation: an arm of a major cereal maker became the first chairman of the ADA’s Council on Dental Health in 1942.

Morris suggested that the issue of dental decay be solved with fluoride rather than sticking to the existing recommendation of a low-carbohydrate diet. He had a conflict of interest in this decision, as cereals are carbohydrates and do increase tooth decay risk.

Furthermore, to make its recommendations, the ADA’s council had to reverse its position on several key points such as the safety of topically applied fluoride and the role of deficiencies in bone health nutrients as a cause of tooth decay, changed from “fact” to an explicit dismissal.

The need to teach dental patients that a reduction in carbohydrate intake is necessary should be changed to a recommendation for a ‘well-balanced’ diet, which became increasingly associated with high-carbohydrate nutritional guidelines.

The study also explores the private interests involved when the ADA took the first significant steps toward endorsing the current fluoride-supplemented high-carbohydrate nutritional guidelines, most of which have been maintained for decades (2^✔ ✔Trusted Source
Private Interests and the Start of Fluoride-Supplemented High-Carbohydrate Nutritional Guidelines

Go to source).

Advertisement

How to Prevent Dental Caries Naturally

High-carbohydrate diets undermine dental health because these foods’ residue in the mouth breaks down into sugars, which feed the Streptococcus mutants bacteria which are also present. In turn, the bacteria produce lactic acid, which attacks the tooth enamel, leading to decay. Fluoride fortifies the enamel.

Make sure to brush at least twice each day, floss carefully, and use a good mouthwash product regularly. Ideally, you should brush and floss each day before bed and after getting up in the morning, as well as after each meal. Using mouthwash at least two times per day helps slow the development of tooth decay (3^✔ ✔Trusted Source
Diagnosis and Prevention Strategies for Dental Caries

Go to source).

Tooth decay is easily one of the most prevalent chronic diseases. Using all the remedies at your disposal will help you maintain optimal oral health and a confident smile.

References:

1. American Dental Association. Nutrition and Oral Health - (https://www.ada.org/resources/research/science-and-research-institute/oral-health-topics/nutrition-and-oral-health)
2. Private Interests and the Start of Fluoride-Supplemented High-Carbohydrate Nutritional Guidelines - (https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/14/20/4263/htm)
3. Diagnosis and Prevention Strategies for Dental Caries - (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4390741/)

Source-Medindia