I love to eat sweets--candy, cookies, caramel apples--- everything. But I don't like getting cavities. Is there a way to eat lots of sugar without ruining your teeth?
D: Interesting question. First, let's assume that you're not going to cut out sweets entirely. So what are your options? If you're going to eat candy, for example, it's best to eat a bunch all at once instead of eating a few pieces at a time throughout the day.
Y: That's because every time you eat sugar, or any carbohydrate like potato chips or crackers or whatever, there's a thirty- to sixty-minute period where bacteria in your mouth feed on the carbs and produce acid. The acid is what eats away at your teeth. So if you're snacking on candy several times a day instead of just once, your teeth are exposed to more cavity-causing acid.
D: It's also smart to eat candy around or just after mealtimes, because during meals you have an increased flow of saliva that helps wash out your mouth and creates a kind of buffer between your teeth and the bacterial acid.
Y: Your best bet, of course, is to lay off the candy. But of course that's easier said than done.
caramel:焦糖
cavity:蛀牙
carbohydrate:碳水化合物,糖类
saliva:唾液
buffer:起缓冲作用的（物或人） |