When it comes to maintaining a mouth full of healthy teeth, an understanding of the foods we eat is critical. We must be aware that substances like sugar have the ability to wear down our tooth enamel, paving the way for cavities and infection. To prevent such unfortunate circumstances from ever having a chance to develop, your Waconia dentist wants you to understand what foods contain sugar, including some that you might not expect.

Milk & Juice

You might not expect milk to be sweetened, but even a cup of skim contains 12 grams of sugar. Powdered milk is much worse, with 49 grams per cup. Juices such as grape, apple, and orange are obviously sweet, but don’t be fooled that it’s harmless “natural” sugar. Sugar in juice is highly concentrated, and if you read the label you’ll typically find as much as 25 to 35 grams per cup.

Yogurt

In general, yogurt is a great source of calcium (which your teeth love!), protein, and probiotics. But all yogurt available in the store is sweetened, including plain varieties. Flavored varieties carry more sugar, and “low fat” or “light” varieties may be sweetened even more to compensate for loss of flavor.

Bread

The predominantly American practice of sweetening bread is something that many people don’t realize until they visit another country. One slice of enriched, white bread contains 1.5 grams of sugar, bagels have around 6, and sweet rolls, unsurprisingly, have 26.

As your leading family dentist for the area of Waconia, Victoria, and Carver, we hope that you and your kids stay cavity free. Get in touch with our dental clinic to set up regular checkups, and in the meantime, be conscious of sugar and avoid it when you can!