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Den's Dental Blog

Hello! My name is Den. This blog is going to cover a range of dental topics. I am not a dentist or a dental nurse but I have recently undergone a lot of dental treatment. This treatment has given me a great insight into the world of dentistry and I would like to share everything I have learnt with you here. Last year, I developed terrible pain in my mouth. I was diagnosed with severe tooth decay. The dentist removed the problem teeth and then inserted false ones in their place. He also whitened my teeth to improve my smile. I hope you find my blog useful.

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Sports Drinks and Your Dental Health: A Worrying Link

by Myrtle Banks

If someone is a professional athlete, a semi-professional athlete, or even just someone who takes their sport seriously and does a lot of it, that individual is likely to enjoy good health. Curiously, this health doesn't always extend to a person's teeth. It's certainly not going to affect everyone who plays a lot of sport, but are your teeth paying the price for your physical pastimes?

An Indirect Effect

Short of a contact sport that causes physical damage to your teeth, sports don't directly have an adverse effect on your dental health. In fact, consistent physical activity may help to reduce your chances of gum disease. However, some people might be inadvertently damaging their teeth by attempting to offset the physical demands of playing sport and exercising.

Tooth Decay

It has been found that athletes can be more likely to experience tooth decay than the general public. It's believed that this is due to the consumption of sports or energy drinks, along with energy bars and gels. These drinks (generally marketed as being high in electrolytes) are often consumed to rehydrate after physical activity. Energy bars and gels can be used to increase stamina prior to exercise or as a quick boost after exercise. The trouble is that these products contain high amounts of sugar.

Sugar Content

Yes, it might seem counterintuitive to market something as a sports product while the product in question contains more sugar than a chocolate bar. Clearly, this can be bad news for your teeth, leading to the enamel erosion and tooth decay that can be common in many athletes. What should you do?

Simple Changes

It's a matter of making some simple changes. Be sure to rinse your mouth after drinking a sports drink to remove the glucose residue left behind on your teeth. You can also switch to a sugar-free version of your preferred product, or rehydrate using plain water. Early identification of enamel erosion is one of the goals of general dentistry, so it's crucial that you don't skip any of your dental appointments. This is true for absolutely everyone, but if you should consume a large quantity of sugar-rich sports drinks, this conceivably increases your risk of tooth decay, so it becomes even more important.

It's not as though you should reduce or even modify your sporting endeavours, but you need to be mindful of the effects that certain sport products can have on your teeth and take the necessary steps to avoid these effects.

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