Tooth decay warning over sports drinks

Athletes and fitness fans are risking significant tooth decay by drinking sports drinks and protein shakes.

The new president of the Irish Dental Association (IDA), Anne Twomey has warned that dentists across the country are seeing many patients who are participating in sports presenting with significant tooth decay and erosion in their teeth.

She said that while most people who took part in sport understood the importance of hydration and healthy diet, many were unaware that popular sports drinks and protein shakes are very damaging to oral health.

Dr Twomey said people who are constantly taking little sips of sports drinks from a bottle are effectively bathing their teeth in sugar and giving their mouths no time to recover.

“Clearly there are many benefits to adopting healthy lifestyles,” said Dr Twomey. “However, consumers have to be clear about what they and their children are consuming. Sports drinks, protein shakes, energy drinks, energy bars and fruit juices can contain anything from five to a dozen teaspoons of sugar.”

Addressing more than 400 delegates at the IDA’s annual conference in Cork, Dr Twomey said the organisation would be making contact with the Irish Sports Council and its member bodies such as the FAI, GAA, and IRFU to see how the organisations can work together on this issue.

Dr Twomey also said the IDA had come across one drink which contained 14 teaspoons of sugar and pointed out that protein/meal replacement bars can be very damaging due to the sticky nature of the honey or syrup which is often included. Dried fruit also has a very high concentration of sugar.

“Tooth decay is always caused by sugar,” she said. “Often my patients are unaware they are consuming sugar as they are labelled with other words. There are in fact 57 different words used instead of sugar such as sucrose, lactose, glucose, fructose, etc.”

The IDA highlighted a 2012 survey of athletes at the London Olympics in 2012 by a team from University College London found that athletes, as a group, had worse dental health than other people of a similar age.

Of the 302 athletes examined from 25 sports, 55% had evidence of cavities, 45% had tooth erosion, and 76% had gum disease. One third said that their oral health affected their quality of life, while one in five said it affected training or athletic performance.

Dr Twomey said it was ironic that such a large percentage of young athletes, who were otherwise in fantastic physical shape, had really poor oral health and did not seem aware of the resulting negative impact on their well being and performance.

“Our advice is clear,” said Dr Twomey. “Avoid sports drinks on a regular basis. If taking protein shakes or bars study the ingredients carefully and opt for those not containing sugar. Plain water is the ultimate thirst quencher while milk has also been found to be a very effective post-workout drink.”

The conference also heard from professor of psychology as applied to dentistry at King’s College London, Tim Newton, who spoke about the nature of dental anxiety — ranging from the mild to the phobic — and what interventions can help alleviate this anxiety.

Office worker posed as dentist

An office manager in New York has been held on charges she posed as a dentist when the real dentist was away, seriously injuring patients after pulling their teeth, performing root canal treatment, and injecting their mouths, prosecutors said.

Valbona Yzeiraj, who said she trained as a dentist in her native Albania but is not licensed or trained in New York, pleaded not guilty in Bronx Supreme Court to five counts of unauthorised practise of a profession; four counts of assault; three counts of reckless endangerment; and one count of attempted grand larceny.

One of the patients Yzeiraj treated between late 2012 and the summer of 2013 got an infection after root canal treatment, and another still feels pain two years after being treated by Yzeiraj, prosecutors said.

Yzeiraj treated patients at Jeffrey Schoengold’s Ultimate Dental Care of Riverdale in the Bronx while he was away, prosecutors charge. When Dr Schoengold discovered Yzeiraj’s unsanctioned side business, he fired her and she then tried to steal more than $20,000, prosecutors said.

An attorney for Yzeiraj, 45, did not immediately return a message seeking comment. A judge set her bail at $20,000, and she was barred from going near any dental practices during the duration of her case.

If convicted, Yzeiraj faces up to seven years in prison.

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