Preventive Procedures and Nutrition Flashcards

A patient consumes sugary snacks five times throughout the day in addition to three main meals. From a caries prevention perspective, why is this eating pattern more harmful than consuming the same amount of sugar in fewer sittings?

Answer: Each sugar exposure creates a separate acid attack lasting 20-40 minutes, so five snacks create five acid attacks with minimal recovery time between them

The Stephan curve demonstrates that each carbohydrate exposure triggers an acid attack lasting 20-40 minutes. Frequent snacking creates multiple, overlapping acid attacks that keep oral pH below the critical demineralization threshold, giving enamel no opportunity to remineralize.

Which vitamin deficiency is most commonly associated with oral manifestations including gingival bleeding, delayed wound healing, and loosening of teeth?

Answer: Vitamin C deficiency (scurvy)

Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is essential for collagen synthesis, which is critical for maintaining connective tissue integrity in the gingiva and periodontal ligament. Severe deficiency causes scurvy, characterized by gingival hemorrhage, impaired wound healing, and tooth mobility.

What role does calcium in the diet play in dental health throughout the lifespan?

Answer: Calcium is important at all ages: it supports tooth development in children, maintains alveolar bone density in adults, and helps prevent osteoporosis-related bone loss that can worsen periodontal disease in older adults

Calcium is critical at every life stage for dental health. During development, it forms tooth structure; in adults, it maintains the alveolar bone that supports teeth; and in older adults, adequate calcium (with vitamin D) helps prevent osteoporosis that can accelerate periodontal bone loss.

A dental assistant is conducting a dietary analysis with a patient. Which tool is most commonly used in dental practice to assess a patient's eating patterns for caries risk?

Answer: A three-to-seven day food diary recording all foods, beverages, snacking times, and frequency of sugar exposure

A multi-day food diary provides the most comprehensive picture of eating patterns, sugar frequency, and snacking habits. It captures day-to-day variation that a single 24-hour recall might miss and allows the dental team to identify specific modifiable behaviours.

Which sugar substitute has been shown to actively reduce dental caries rather than simply being non-cariogenic?

Answer: Xylitol

Xylitol is unique among sugar substitutes because it is not merely non-cariogenic (not causing caries) but is actively anti-cariogenic. Streptococcus mutans cannot metabolize xylitol and its attempted uptake disrupts the bacteria's energy metabolism.

What is the effect of frequent consumption of acidic foods and beverages on tooth enamel, and how does this differ from caries?

Answer: Erosion from dietary acids causes chemical dissolution of enamel without bacterial involvement, resulting in smooth, generalized enamel loss rather than the localized bacterial-mediated lesions of caries

Dental erosion is chemical dissolution of tooth structure by acids from dietary sources (intrinsic or extrinsic) without bacterial involvement. Unlike caries (which is bacterial acid production in plaque causing localized lesions), erosion produces smooth, widespread enamel loss patterns.