As part of nutritional counseling in dentistry, keeping a food diary (nutrition log) can be useful. The goal of the diary is to raise your awareness of tooth-damaging sugary or acidic meals, to limit them thereafter, and to eat a permanently tooth-healthier diet. The vast majority of people today are aware of the link between frequent sugar consumption and increased caries risk (“holes in the teeth”). Nevertheless, eating a healthy diet does not necessarily mean completely avoiding sugar. A healthy diet, on the other hand, is not necessarily the same as a healthy diet for teeth – this statement is particularly surprising for health-conscious people who do not want to do without acidic foods and beverages such as fruit, fruit juices or salads with acidic dressings in their daily diet and thus expose their teeth to a high risk of erosion (erosion: chemical dissolution of the hard tooth substance without the action of bacteria) due to frequent demineralization (decalcification) and loss of hardness. Appropriate recommendations on the frequency of consumption of tooth-damaging foods/beverages, oral hygiene and fluoride-containing rinsing solutions reduce this risk. Food acid and the acids formed as a decomposition product of the caries bacteria fermenting the sugar are neutralized by buffer systems of the saliva, and the tooth surface demineralized (decalcified and softened) by the acid attack is remineralized by storage of minerals from the saliva. However, these processes require time, which is sufficiently available with a maximum of five tooth-damaging meals/drinks in between. However, if the time intervals between meals are shortened, there is not enough time for remineralization: The tooth cannot reach its final hardness. Increased abrasion (wear) during chewing and brushing, and rapid progression of carious lesions (cavities) are the result.
Indications (areas of application)
Keeping a food diary is recommended when the dietary history, observation of the teeth or their radiographic findings reveal an increased risk of caries or erosion. Contributing to these diagnoses are, for example:
- Visible carious lesions (holes).
- Carious lesions initially hidden when looking at the teeth, but visible in the X-ray image.
- White spots (“chalk spots”) as a sign of demineralization (decalcification, softening of the enamel) on the smooth surfaces of the teeth, which are easy to clean in themselves.
- Gingivitis (inflammation of the gums) and periodontitis (inflammatory disease of the periodontium with gum and bone recession).
- More than two sweet snacks daily in the dietary history – this includes sugary and acidic drinks.
- Insufficient fluoride intake, for example, by avoiding fluoride toothpaste and fluoridated table salt
- U. v. m.
The process
The food diary is kept over the period of a few days. All meals and drinks consumed during the day are logged and the components of the meals are additionally broken down into:
- Fruit and fruit salads
- Vegetables and raw vegetable salads
- Starchy components such as bread, pasta, potatoes, rice.
- Milk and dairy products such as yogurt and cheese
- Protein foods such as meat, sausage, fish and eggs.
- Desserts such as cakes, ice cream, chocolate, sweets, bars.
- Drinks such as water, unsweetened tea, fruit juices and soft drinks.
Recommendations derived from the food diary
If your food diary shows that you are exposing your teeth to more than two additional tooth-damaging snacks or drinks in addition to your three main meals, you should change your dietary habits and adjust your oral hygiene technique – even if you are taking adequate basic fluoride prophylaxis (in the form of fluoridated toothpaste and fluoridated table salt):
- A maximum of two sweet / sour snacks daily.
- Immediately after sour foods / drinks do not – ! – brush your teeth, but wait at least an hour! Otherwise, your risk is high to lose softened tooth substance by brushing your teeth
- Fluoride-containing rinsing solutions or at least rinse with water after acid consumption facilitate the remineralization of the tooth surface
- brush twice a day with fluoride toothpaste
- Additionally use a highly concentrated fluoride gel once a week
- Vital substance supplements (macro- and micronutrients/nutritional supplements) can complement your individual diet plan
