Dental health/ quit sugar help

[Tulipsanddaffodils3]

I need recommendations to support quitting sugar to salvage my teeth. It's mortifying, I'm a grown woman, have kids and work full time but I eat way too many sweets and sweet things. The really bad chewy ones are a particular favourite but any will do. I also drink too many fizzy drinks (zero sugar tbf) and if I'm having alcohol it's those sickly sweet ciders. My teeth have been bad for years with many a filling and a cap and it still isnt enough to stop me. I've always been slim and my teeth look fine so I've kind of 'got away with' my sweet diet.

Anyway, I've now been told I need another 3 fillings and the worst of it is I'm now going to lose a back tooth and I'm horrified at myself. I can't believe I've let it get to this but I clearly desperately need to change.

I'm really good at brushing with an electric toothbrush and I do floss so I can only assume it's the diet. For context though I did have three hyperemesis pregnancies that were obviously not good on the teeth and a year of rotten mental health in 2024 where I was not good at looking after myself at all.

I'm not even 40 yet, I'm desperate to use this as the wake up call I need but I feel clueless. Does anyone have any advice about quitting sugar or general dental care? My dentist is lovely but not forthcoming on much advice, she clearly sees me as a professional woman who is generally inherently sensible but just utterly dreadful at dental care, but I'm not even sure where to begin tbh.

Thanks in advance for any help. Any books or podcasts or just general advice would be really welcome.

You don’t need to quit sugar. It’s not about the quantity, it’s about how often you eat it during the day. Constant snacking/drinking acidic things throughout the day is awful for your teeth - containing it to mealtimes only massively reduces the damage.

Thank you for the video Harumphh, looks like he has a lot of similar ones too so ill definitely take a look. It is definitely a dopamine issue for me.

PeanutButter55 - I didn't know that! Thats very interesting, unfortunately my peak way of eating sweets is grazing from mid afternoon at my desk and then again in the evening so clearly that's been terrible for my teeth.

what you eat and drink at meal times doesn’t matter , it’s what you eat and drink in between that damages teeth. Particularly just before or at bedtime as the acid sits on your teeth all night , even if you’ve brushed your teeth .

Every sip, every bite prodipuces acid that attacks the teeth for an hour afterwards , longer at bedtime.

Grazing and sipping is the worst thing for your teeth . Do you have good three meals a day ? .

This is not just sweets but yoghurts, granola bars , even half a teaspoon of sugar in a hot drink, fruit teas, smoothies, fruit juice, energy drinks , dried fruits ,cereals, honey etc .

The best thing is not to substitute for things with artificial sweeteners but to go cold Turkey . Find things to nibble on (like cheese , toast and butter , crudités ) or distraction techniques eg I will have a snack in another 10 minutes etc .

Keep your sweet treats for meal times only the less sugar/sweet you have during the day the less you will crave it and the more unpalatable very sweet things will become.

If you are on antidepressants they can dry your mouth out which makes decay easier so diet is even more important.

With decay it’s diet,diet ,diet get that right and your teeth will thank you.

If you fancy it take a look at Dr Jen Unwin on YouTube, she is a UK based doctor who discusses food addiction and sugar addiction.
For any other addiction we do not counsel moderation, only abstinence. You can not tell an alcoholic to moderate and expect it to work.
Might be worth a look.
Best wishes!

Try and have a sugar window in the day. So an hour where you can cram in a bunch of haribo. Don't brush teeth straight after eating sugary things.

Or if you can bear it save all the sweets for one window in one day of the week.

Use chlorhexidine mouthwash and tp brushes. Floss is sometimes too thin to catch all the debris, especially at the back. And brush each tooth thoroughly, this can take about 5-8 minutes.

Lastly, don't be embarrassed about losing one back tooth and needing fillings. I've got 14 massive composite fillings and a silver crown over a root canal. And I'm really pleased my teeth are now fixed!

Xylitol is good too, you can get gum or lozenges or just chew and swish it around your mouth

If you like sweet drinks many herbal teas are good, the fruity or liquorice ones, but they're sugar free.

Many of the fruity teas have a similar ph to battery acid, not good for teeth. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-43141587

Don’t use chlorhexidine mouthwash , it stains teeth and does nothing to stop decay . Don’t use any mouthwash as it interacts with toothpaste and washes fluoride away .

You will be eating sugar at breakfast , lunch and dinner . Any sugar hits should be then not inbetween meals , particularly where sticky sweets like haribos stay on the teeth for a long time .

It stops gum disease. And kills bacteria so of course it reduces likelihood of decay. They say it stains teeth but I haven't really found that.

Hi, I am just posting for solidarity really. I did not have great teeth as a child but then they had been ok for years before I got pregnant and then I started to have lots of problems. I have lost a tooth and I still feel really embarrassed about it as it is sort of mid to back and I can't currently afford an indent. Years after having my kids I finally feel like I have got a handle on my teeth and I think for me the main things are really conscientious flossing/brushing/tp brushing, trying to reduce all sugar in my diet and not eating anything too late in the evening. I drink mainly water also although do have coffee without sugar and red bush tea. It is not terribly interesting but I was so horrified to lose a tooth I have stuck to it.

No it doesn’t stop gum disease . Good cleaning is the number one way to control gum disease. Chlorhexidine should only be used for specific problems , for a short time , when prescribed by a dentist .

There have been fatalities due to allergic reactions to chlorhexidine mouthwashes and there is research to say repeated use leads to microbial resistance to it .

The number one factor in decreasing decay is diet.diet.diet . The bacteria that cause decay are a normal part of the oral flora and attempts to get rid of bacterial flora cause all sorts of problems eg candidal infections. There is no research to say chlorhexidine mouthwashes stop decay or decreases the bacteria that cause decay .

Hmm...ok. it cured my bad gums so I thought it was good! Of course if someone's allergic then they shouldn't use it. I also use corsodyl gel if I get any vague dental pain.

Maybe I'll reconsider it now.

Thank you all so much for posting and for sharing your stories of hope after fixing your teeth too, I really appreciate it. Im so disappointed in myself but hoping this will be it. My diet is rubbish, not like frozen food or chips but I very rarely eat meals, I just sort of snack throughout the day and then am starving in the evening and eat toast just before bed. Or sweets or flapjacks or sugary yoghurts etc. I've wanted to do something about it for ages but just kept putting it off, never realised this would be hurting my teeth so badly. Thanks for the tips too, again much appreciated.

It seems limiting eating to 3 windows a day would be most important and brushing an hour later. Ive been brushing my teeth on waking, eating around 10, 1 and then snacking between 3 and 10, rarely eat an evening meal. I do brush my teeth at bedtime but thats usually straight after eating something late at night. And thats before I even include that I eat too many chewy sweets, the worst type for my teeth. And drink sugary cider of a weekend. Feeling inspired by your post @Colourbrain and that youve stuck to it, hopefully that'll be me in time.