Is it true that too much consumption of hot food can damage teeth? This is the Explanation of the UM Surabaya FKG Lecturer

• 07 Jul
• 2023

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Is it true that too much consumption of hot food can damage teeth? This is the Explanation of the UM Surabaya FKG Lecturer

• Article
• By Uswah Sahal
• Health
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Teeth are the hardest part of the body which is found in the oral cavity, having various shapes adapted to their functions such as cutting, tearing and grinding food. Dental hard tissue is composed of enamel, dentin, cementum. Tooth enamel is the hardest tissue, therefore enamel is the strongest tooth protector against stimuli during mastication.

The composition of enamel consists of 96% inorganic substances, 3% organic substances, and 1% water. Dental inorganic substance consists of hydrosis apatite, fluor apatite and calcium phosphate hydrate. The content of inorganic substances consists mostly of hydroxyapatite and fluoroapatite crystals. Both of these elements will dissolve in an acidic environment.

Aryo Sutowijoyo Lecturer at the Faculty of Dentistry (FKG) UM Surabaya explained that consuming hot food and drinks or cold food and drinks will not have a direct impact on tooth decay.

“The most dominant factor causing tooth decay is an imbalance between consumption of foods that have the potential to damage teeth and how to care for good teeth. Food residue that sticks to the tooth surface for a long time will increase the acidity level on the tooth surface," said Aryo Friday (7/7/23)

Aryo explained, the increase in acidity on the tooth surface resulted from the remnants of bacterial metabolism on food scraps attached to the tooth surface. Apart from being caused by food residue sticking to the surface of the teeth for too long, there are several things that can cause tooth decay, including improper way of brushing teeth, bad habits (biting pencils, biting smoking pipes), excessive use of toothpicks between teeth, bruxism (shrinkage). while sleeping) and so on.

In his explanation, Aryo gave tips on maintaining healthy teeth that need to be considered, namely:

First, always maintain the cleanliness of the teeth and oral cavity. Maintaining the cleanliness of the oral cavity can be done by brushing your teeth properly and thoroughly and using fluoride toothpaste 3 times a day, namely after eating and before going to bed.

Second, adopt a healthy lifestyle by eating healthy foods that contain lots of fiber.

Third, routine control to the dentist every 6 months, whether there are complaints about the teeth or no complaints.