As someone who works in an office with a bunch of friendly other co-workers, you no doubt enjoy going into work each day. However, how do you feel about the idea that this wonderful working environment may be having a negative impact on your dental health? From birthday get-togethers to constant meetings, the extra sugar you consume in this 'cake culture' could be slowly rotting your teeth.
Birthday Celebrations
When an office worker has a birthday, it is often a tradition to bring a sweet treat or two into the office to put on the lunchroom table. The problem is, if you work in an office with a large number of employees, you could be eating a slice of cake more than once a week.
Take the standard carrot cake which is always a hit with your co-workers. Did you know it contains on average 3 teapsoons of sugar per medium slice? Bearing in mind that very few office workers engage in the proper dental hygiene of brushing their teeth after snacks or lunch, this sugar sits in the mouth until the nightime brushing occurs. In the interim, however, the sugar will feed the bacteria in your mouth. The bacteria will then produce plaque that erodes the enamel on your teeth.
As an alternative, provide healthier platters of fresh fruit and vegetable sticks when it is your turn to host the birthday morning tea. You may not be the most popular person in the office, but those who are concerned about their teeth will thank you.
Meetings
Whether you regularly attend meetings with clients or you have in-house meetings to go to, the temptation to graze on the sweet treats sitting on the table is often hard to resist. Once again, however, the muffins, danishes and cookies on display all contain varying amounts of sugar that you are not washing away before you get home.
If you know in advance you are going to have a hard time resisting the cakes available, consider taking a toothbrush, toothpaste and dental floss to work. By doing so, you can at least clean your teeth after eating to reduce the amount of sugar sitting in your mouth during office hours.
The other important part of dental hygiene when you work in an office is semi-annual dental checkups. Since you are exposed to so much sugar on a daily basis, visiting your dentist is key if you want to make sure you don't end up with a mouth full of cavities. Early dentist detection can reduce the chance of losing teeth in the long term.
Share29 June 2016
As a retired dentist, I work with charities which visit developing countries and educate children about dental care. It gives me great satisfaction to revisit these communities and see how proud the children are of their efforts. I am acutely aware that good dental hygiene can help prevent a range of serious conditions when these children become older. I started this blog because it greatly distresses me that many people in Australia do not seem to care for their teeth as much as children in these poor communities. This is happening despite ready access to items like toothbrushes and toothpaste which are luxuries in the places I visit. It is my hope that this blog encourages you not to take dental health for granted. My greatest wish is that you can be as inspired as the children I see in my charity work. Please read on and enjoy.
