Dental

[ShanDog]

So as my rides are increasing in length, I've been looking at things like gels and sports drinks and was wondering what their impact is on your teeth? If it's anything like coke, I wouldn't want to be sitting on a bike for a few hours with this stuff sat on my teeth. I know from what I've read and heard for example that drinks like powerade and gatorade are very bad for your teeth so I've been making sure I mix it up with one bottle of water and one with powdered gatorade. But what about things like gels? What's your take? Any good alternatives that are not so bad for your teeth? (assuming there's plenty of sugar in gels?)

Anyway, just food for thought. I'm definitely not a teeth freak

[CommuRider]

Dunno but I threw away my listerine after this report came out linking it to oral cancer

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1 ... 070.x/full

[silkishuge]

So as my rides are increasing in length, I've been looking at things like gels and sports drinks and was wondering what their impact is on your teeth? If it's anything like coke, I wouldn't want to be sitting on a bike for a few hours with this stuff sat on my teeth. I know from what I've read and heard for example that drinks like powerade and gatorade are very bad for your teeth so I've been making sure I mix it up with one bottle of water and one with powdered gatorade. But what about things like gels? What's your take? Any good alternatives that are not so bad for your teeth? (assuming there's plenty of sugar in gels?)

Anyway, just food for thought. I'm definitely not a teeth freak

Washing down with water definitely helps. I don't eat gels, but i do eat snakes and I wash down the sweet with some water.

Jon

[liamb]

My teeth are not good at all from rain water (no fluoride) and a dry mouth and a love of fruit and coffee (highly acidic). My dentist's have told me flat out so many time to chew sugar free gum as much as possible. One dentist is a cyclist and she says because you are moving fast you can often have a dryer mouth which make tooth decay happen much faster, so she chews while she rides and so do I. I am diabetic so I need to eat a certain way to maintain my health and at times need to have saturated sugar at times to adjust my blood sugars, when I recover I chew gum to get rid of the sugar and acids. Hope this helps.

Bill

[brawlo]

I saw a report on TV prob about 6 months or more ago that mentioned tooth decay is worse now than it has been in the past. They attributed this to the healthy lifestyle that so many people are into now, where a lot of the healthy foods are very acidic, and therefore healthy eaters especially are getting worse dental problems.

The report actually noted that hooking into a healthy fruit meal of say acidic stone fruits was worse for your teeth than having a bag of lollies!

[ShanDog]

Dunno but I threw away my listerine after this report came out linking it to oral cancer

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1 ... 070.x/full

Oh God... I used mouthwash twice a day... might look into those new alcohol free ones.

My teeth are not good at all from rain water (no fluoride) and a dry mouth and a love of fruit and coffee (highly acidic). My dentist's have told me flat out so many time to chew sugar free gum as much as possible. One dentist is a cyclist and she says because you are moving fast you can often have a dryer mouth which make tooth decay happen much faster, so she chews while she rides and so do I. I am diabetic so I need to eat a certain way to maintain my health and at times need to have saturated sugar at times to adjust my blood sugars, when I recover I chew gum to get rid of the sugar and acids. Hope this helps.

Bill

Hmmm I think chewing gum could be good... might give that a go

[jet-ski]

I saw a report on TV prob about 6 months or more ago that mentioned tooth decay is worse now than it has been in the past. They attributed this to the healthy lifestyle that so many people are into now, where a lot of the healthy foods are very acidic, and therefore healthy eaters especially are getting worse dental problems.

The report actually noted that hooking into a healthy fruit meal of say acidic stone fruits was worse for your teeth than having a bag of lollies!

Urm, sure it's not because people drink fruit juice and carbonated soft drinks now instead of plain old water? Also, people drinking bottled water without the added flouride? I don't think that 'healthy lifestyle' is something that a significant number of people are in to, just going by the obesity statistics!

[Mrfenejeans]

In my endeavour to cycle more my partner who is a Dental hygienist is appalled with just about anything i think of ingesting to keep riding, no concern for me getting fatigue or weak, just about how it effects my stupid teeth.


If there is sugar in it be it gel, fruit, Gatorade, anything, sugar in any form it is bad for your teeth (or so I've been able to understand between tuning in and out). The main thing is that even if you are "washing" it down with water there is still some sugar in your mouth, and as you can easily cycle for 2+ hours without stopping that is where the problem lies, that as you cycle that because you are exerting energy there is also less saliva in your mouth to protect your teeth.

Unfortunately for all my partners criticisms of my cycling diet, she has not yet been able to offer up a substantial alternative to gels, fruits etc.