Modern Diet to Blame for Dental Problems
Our modern diet, filled with soft and mushy foods, is one of the causes of dental problems, researchers have revealed.
Experts, including dentists, evolutionary biologists and food scientists, gathered together at a recent conference entitled, ‘Evolution of Human Teeth and Jaws: Implications for Dentistry and Orthodontics. The conference took place in North Carolina.
Experts at the conference agreed that the human diet has changed so much since the era of cavemen and cavewomen and this has caused an increased risk of cavities, misaligned teeth and crowding.
The expert opinions were based on research into ancient teeth and jaws because in the past, the human diet contained a lot of meat, which meant that the jaws were constantly working and the teeth grinding and chewing. Simon Hillson, professor of bioarchaeology at University College London, said that teeth are very durable, which has enabled researchers to examine human teeth from thousands of years ago. As well as examining very old teeth, researchers have also been looking at the teeth of Aboriginal and Kashmiri huntsmen from the 1950’s, as they still adopted a hunter-gatherer approach to eating.
Professor Jimmy Steele, from the School of Dental Sciences at Newcastle University, said that our diet has switched from raw foods to soft foods, which are packed with sugar.
Dr Nigel Carter, chief executive of the British Dental Health Foundation, said that our diet is so soft compared to the diet of the past that our teeth are almost redundant. Dr Carter said that it was a shocking statement, but if it wasn’t for aesthetics and speech, we probably would no longer need our teeth to survive.
Dr Carter said that dental health started to deteriorate after the arrival of sugar in the UK at the start of the 19th century.
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