Food and drink for healthy teeth

For healthy teeth, food and drinks should be free of added sugar whenever possible.

Tooth decay (dental caries) is a diet related disease. Sugars in the food and drinks you consume mix with the bacteria in the plaque on your teeth and produce acids. These acids attack the outer layers of the tooth (tooth enamel).

Consuming sweet food and drink between meals is a major cause of tooth decay; this is because there is no between-meal period for teeth to undergo recovery. The more often sweet foods and drinks are consumed, the higher the risk of tooth decay.

What you can do to help maintain healthy teeth:

Limit how often you have sweet foods and consume them during meal times rather than between meals.

Limit sweet drinks, including fruit juices (even if diluted, fruit juice contains natural sugars which can lead to tooth decay).