SEATTLE, Jul 10, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Dental pain may portend future
medical problems because a diet bad for teeth may be also bad for the body, a
U.S. researcher said.
Dr. Philippe P. Hujoel of the University of Washington School of Dentistry in
Seattle said dental disease may be a wake-up call that your diet is harming your
body.
Hujoel reviewed the relationships between diet, dental disease, and chronic
systemic illness in a report published in the Journal of Dental Research.
Over the past 20 years, Hujoel said, people have been advised to make
fermentable dietary carbohydrates -- cookies, doughnuts, cake, candy, bananas,
tropical fruits, raisins, dried fruits, potatoes, refined wheat flour, yams,
rice, pasta, pretzels, bread and corn -- the foundation of their diet.
Cavities or gingival bleeding from fermentable carbohydrates could be avoided
only -- and not always successfully -- by conscientious brushing, fluorides and
dental preventive measures. A diet higher in fat and protein does not cause
dental diseases, Hujoel said.
"There is fascinating evidence that suggests that the higher the glycemic level
of a food, the more it will drop the acidity of dental plaque, and the higher it
will raise blood sugar," Hujoel said in a statement.
"So, possibly, dental decay may really be a marker for the chronic high-glycemic
diets that lead to both dental decay and chronic systemic diseases."
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Copyright 2009 by United Press International