Study: Sugar Rules The World And Ruins Teeth
The authors of a new study say dental health is especially bad in low- and middle-income countries — and that Big Sugar works to make sure soda and candy aren't targeted as cavity culprits.
Ninety-five percent of 12-year-olds in the Philippines have tooth decay, or cavities. And cavities affect seven in 10 children in India, one-third of Tanzania teens and nearly one in every three Brazilians.
These and other startling oral health statistics are the focus of a two-part series published this week in The Lancet. In it, more than a dozen dentists and public health experts call for radical action to end neglected and widespread oral disease.
The culprit?
"Sugar is the causative agent for dental, one of the study authors and a dental public health expert at the University of Pittsburgh. "Basically, without sugar, you won't develop decay."
