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Comment by mgh2 | Hacker News Reader

Why is it so high among athletes? Lack of consistent income or insurance?

PS: The are no bad questions...

Many are just not that diligent with proper dental hygiene. Interdental brushes/ superfloss are used only occasionally if at all and not every day. There are people that brush for 2 minutes and call it a day, because they heard it's enough in some advert or because the electric toothbrush stops. Well, it turns out you need a lot longer than that and a reasonable technique if you want to keep your teeth clean and healthy.

The acidic, sugary drinks and food don't help at all. Drinking mineral water (no sugar, no extra acids) or to wash the mouth with regular water or a low concentration sodium bicarbonate / baking soda solution to balance pH after eating/ drinking something else would probably help. Of course, if not dissolved completely, the baking soda could act as an abrasive which wouldn't be that great for tooth health so probably just use regular water.

You don't need to invest much money to keep good oral health, it certainly is much cheaper to fix the problems that will arise if you don't, if they can be fixed at all. It however does cost effort/ time.

You certainly don’t need to brush for longer than 2 minutes. Overbrushing is a concern as well.

Correct. The worst thing you can do with a tooth brush is to drink something acidic or extremely sugary (like a sports gel) and then immediately brush your teeth aggressively.

There are three main tooth diseases: Cavities caused by bacteria, loose teeth through gum disease and (permanent) erosion of enamel.

The last one is easy but annoying to prevent: Only brush your teeth 30 minutes after you got rid of food debris/sugar/acid in your mouth using your tongue and by drinking water.

If you brush for 2 minutes I can guarantee you have not cleaned your teeth properly if you have 28-32 of them, use interdental brushes (TePe, Curaprox)/ superfloss and a regular tooth brush.

If you are worried about brushing off your enamel, you should get correct tooth brushes, not use abrasive tooth pastes, not brush immediately after drinking acids as another commenter has written. Some people have soft enamel but effect of some medication/ sickness/ malnutrition during childhood but that is relatively rare. If in doubt, consult dental hygiene specialist or a dentist.

Source: My wife is an established dental hygienist keeping up with the newest approaches, going to advanced courses/ master classes, visiting conferences.

  > Nutrition is a key factor in this relationship. Frequent consumption of fermentable carbohydrates like gels, sports drinks, and bars increases the risk for caries, and acidic sports drinks promote dental erosion, especially when consumed during exercise and with low saliva flow.

Yes, that is what the paper says, but a high carb. diet is also common in the general population. There might be other unexplored reasons - ex: tennis players with constant tours and lack of consistent pay contributes to less dentist visits to fix these.

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