Welcome to a "Sugar Savvy" Dental Health Week!

Taking a look at your supermarket purchases.

Dental Health Week is our annual event run by the Australian Dental Association which aims to make everyone aware of the key things they need to do to keep their teeth and gums healthy. The focus of this year’s campaign is on the harm sugar does to oral health, aiming to help Australians to ‘get sugar savvy’.

This year we are concentrating on bringing awareness to all the hidden sugars in our supermarket purchases. We want you to be a bit more "sugar savvy" about your purchases and how they will ultimately affect your and your family's overall health and teeth. Sugar is everywhere in supermarket staples, even some that might appear to be healthy on the surface.

Visit the Australia Dental Association's Dental Health Week website for more information.

How much sugar is hiding in your trolley?

Hidden sugars are everywhere - especially in processed food items.

Figures show that the average Australian is consuming 14 teaspoons of sugar a day, a whole lot more than the maximum six teaspoons a day recommended by the World Health Organisation. Look out for hidden sugars in your trolley.

Brushing

“Only 53% of adults in Australia brush twice a day and many don’t understand the link between what they eat and drink (especially between meals) and their oral health.” (Dr Fleur Creeper, committee member of the Oral Health Committee and spokesperson for ADAWA). As our dentists will tell you, you need to brush for at least two minutes twice a day, taking care to use a soft-bristled toothbrush (they’re less damaging to your teeth and gums) to clean your teeth systematically along all surfaces, always brushing in small, circular motions.

Flossing

Flossing (or using an interdental brush) once a day is important because it removes plaque from between your teeth which goes a long way in helping to prevent gum disease, tooth decay and halitosis (“bad breath”). It’s not something that should be rushed either. Take your time, using a gentle side-to-side motion with about 45cm wound around your middle fingers and thumb. If you’re not sure about the right technique, have a chat to us so we can show you all the right flossing moves.

Say “Hello!” to your family dentist

Has it been a little while since you’ve seen us? Did you know that one survey revealed that some 65% of Australians had not seen their dentist in the last two years! Call us or book online to make an appointment

Eat and drink well

Beyond limiting the sugar you eat, we recommend drinking more water, avoid snacking between meals, instead sticking to three meals a day.

“The latest data indicates that nearly 48% of adults and 70% of children are consuming too much sugar. Tooth decay is the most common chronic disease in childhood and childhood oral health is the greatest predictor of dental disease into adulthood. (Dr Fleur Creeper, committee member of the Oral Health Committee and spokesperson for ADAWA)

Audio Resources

Check out the Sugar Savvy Podcast. An informative series dealing with the impacts of sugar on oral health!

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Oral Health Tracker 2020 findings 

• The number of adults with untreated and potentially painful tooth decay has increased sizeably from a quarter of adults to around a third of adults (25.5 per cent to 32.1 per cent);

• Adults with periodontal pockets (≥4mm) which can cause tooth loss, went from 19.8 per cent to 28.8 per cent;

• Adults reporting toothache in the previous 12 months went up from 16.2 per cent  to 20.2 per cent;

• Just under half (48.8 per cent) of adults surveyed had visited a dentist for a check-up in the last 12 months, a drop of 6.7 per cent since 2018;

• Only 53 per cent of us are brushing twice a day;

• Australians are keeping their teeth for longer, with the number of adults with fewer than 21 teeth dropping from 15.5 per cent to 10.2 per cent; and

• Rates of adult oral cancers have remained almost static at 10.3 people per 100,000.

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Dental Health Week - Australian Dental Association

The ADA and this campaign aim to educate Australians about the importance of maintaining good oral health by promoting four key messages:
 
•    Brush twice a day with fluoride toothpaste.
•    Clean between your teeth daily using floss or interdental brushes.
•    Eat a healthy, balanced diet and limit sugar intake.
•    Visit the dentist regularly for check-ups and preventive care.

The focus of this year’s campaign is on the harm sugar does to oral health, aiming to help Australians to ‘get sugar savvy’. The campaign includes recommended daily sugar consumption levels, advice on reading food labels, and spells out the effect sugar has on our teeth.  This information is reinforced with three main sugar messages:
 
•    Consume no more than 6 teaspoons (24 grams) of free sugar per day as recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO).
•    Choose foods with less than 10 grams of sugar per 100 grams.
•    Look out for hidden sugars when purchasing foods and drinks.
 
These important messages will be reinforced via the tagline: ‘How much sugar is hiding is your trolley?’, which draws on the concept of hidden sugars and reading food labels in order to make healthy choices. Making healthy choices at the supermarket extends to making similar smart food and drink choices at home. Saying ‘no’ to an unhealthy item in the supermarket means you don’t have to continue to say ‘no’ at home.  
 
Tempting as it is to think that everyone is practicing good oral health, the reality is that the oral health of many Australians is not where it should be.
 
•     Less than 50% of Australians adults have had a dental check-up in the last 12 months. 
•     53% of Australians brush their teeth only once-a-day.
•     Nearly 40% never floss or clean between their teeth.
•     73% of young people (14-18 years) are consuming too much sugar.
•     47% of adults (18+ years) are consuming too much sugar.

More statistics on the oral health of Australian children and adults can be found in Australia’s Oral Health Tracker.