Have you noticed lately the amount of food and drink products on the market today have sugar substitutes such as aspartame? You may be thinking this is a much better option than cane sugar however; substitutes have their down falls too.
Captain Ashley Harris is a prosthodontist at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi and she looks at the molds of teeth to help her diagnose and plan treatment for needed dental work. What she has been noticing is some patient’s teeth are shorter and she blames aspartame which is a low calorie sweetener found in sugar free drinks and food.
Aspartame contains different acids, which cause erosion of the outer layer of the tooth, called the enamel.
“Because people are increasing the additives, because they know that sugar is bad, they switch to the additives which doesn’t increase cavities initially,” states Harris
Check out this article they wrote after interviewing Captain Ashley Harris, it gives more information about Artificial Sweeteners.
The best thing to do if you are going to be consuming additives is to try and plan to do so around meal times. Always make sure to have water on hand to help wash it down.