October 14 is National Dessert Day. Ignore It.

[Brent Cornelius D.D.S.]

National Dessert Day is nigh: October 14 is the day when we celebrate and honor all things sweet eaten after our main meal.

 

It’s also a day that, when they hear about, dentists tend to let out a huge sigh, saying, in effect, “Ah, another day for cavities!”

 

While we couldn’t find any information regarding the origins of National Dessert Day (it definitely is an unofficial “day” however, as we found it mentioned on many different “holiday” sites), we did find a small bit of interesting information about the origins of dessert.

 

That is, we learned that cultures throughout millennia have often finished off the evening meal with nuts, natural candies (think dried apricots, for example) and/or fruit.

 

Desserts today run the gamut from cookies, cakes, pies, ice cream, soufflés, puddings, gelatins, gelato, chocolate, hard candies, and on and on and on and on.

As for National Dessert Day 2015, we hope you ignore it!

 

We know you can guess why: all that sugar! And starches! And Halloween (the main day of eating too many sweets) just two weeks away. Which makes us wonder why the country “needs” a day celebrating all things dessert just a fortnight or so away from the day of small chocolate bars, bubble gum, candy apples, candy corn and pumpkins, jawbreakers, taffy, peanut brittle, and on and on and on and on.

 

But we digress.

 

Still, you know the drill: the sugars and starches found in almost everything considered to be dessert today can cause the bacteria in your teeth to work with the sugar and starches in the food to form acids  that can erode your erode your teeth and gums, potentially leading to gingivitis, perhaps even periodontal disease, cavities, and even gum disease and tooth loss.

 

When stated like that, does dessert sound all that tasty to you? We hope not.

 

Still, as much as we’d like to tell you to ignore National Dessert Day completely, we know that life is to be enjoyed and a delicious lemon mousse eaten after dinner this coming October 14 shouldn’t do too much harm….

 

…so long as you promise us that you’ll brush and floss your teeth, maybe even rinse your mouth  with fluoride mouthwash, as soon as you can after eating.

 

That’s not too much to ask, is it?

 

Image courtesy of KEKO64s/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

[Steffany Mohan, DDS]

Good article. Enjoy national dessert day, but remembering to brush your teeth twice a day, floss and use mouthwash whenever necessary will help to protect your teeth and gums all year long, especially around holidays where sweet treats are common. You can protect your teeth by minimizing the acid attack that is caused by bacteria after you eat pudding. Brush and floss your teeth after eating certain types of candies. Caramel and toffee for example stick to teeth and take hours to dissolve and wear away. They can become lodged between teeth and eat away the delicate enamel leading to cavities and gum irritation.