Community

Eating sweets need NOT damage your teeth

Published

11 years ago

February 17, 2015

IF YOU need a filling at the dentist how many times have you heard the message ‘you must stop eating sweets and sugar’? Really, in this day and age with

Dr Mark Boulcott: Explaining dental disease to a patient.

sugar being added or included in almost all foods as not only a sweetener but as a preservative, texture modifier, fermentation substrate, flavouring and colouring agent, bulking agent and emulsifier, is it even possible to comply with this message and not starve?

It is no surprise, therefore that the statistics of decayed teeth in Pembrokeshire as regularly reviewed by the Hywel Dda Health Board Oral Health Profile (last published in 2013) shows an appalling incidence of dental decay in 5 year olds – and yet dental decay is a totally preventable disease!

So what in reality can you and your children eat and be reassured that your teeth will remain decay free? The answer is that there are really no safe foods. The food industry confuses us with statement like ‘no added sugar’, ‘contains natural sugars’ or ‘reduced sugar’. Sucrose, Glucose, Maltose, Fructose (as labeled on many foodstuffs) are all naturally occurring sugars and all, when eaten, cause acid to form in the mouth: The cause of dental decay with the acid ‘dissolving’ teeth. What is less obvious is the amount of sugar contained within the product.

In essence, sugar is sugar: They all cause dental decay no matter how much or how little you eat. One teaspoon of sugar (sucrose) in your Tea is just as bad for your teeth as five sugars. The only difference is that you may get fat, more prone to diabetes and other health complications with a higher sugar intake but much lower amounts of sugar ingestion will still cause teeth damage. So we have to assume all foods we eat contain sugar (fermentable carbohydrate) of some type.

This dissolving of the teeth, called dental decay or dental caries, puts you and your child at the risk of dental pain, infection and the need for treatments possibly including tooth removal.

Thinking that, in the case of young children, it does not matter (after all, ‘baby teeth’ will be replaced) is wrong. The decay of deciduous teeth may still lead to your child having pain and infection but worse, teeth removal possibly needing General Anaesthesia. This is a procedure not without risk and not easy to access in Pembrokeshire with the nearest GA treatment centre being in Swansea with waiting times often inappropriate for acute pain. There is also the fact that early loss of first teeth is much more likely to lead to crowded or crooked permanent teeth: a fact that may require later orthodontics (treating with braces).

The dentists at Herbrandston, one of Pembrokeshire’s most proactive dental practices in regard to prevention of dental disease, give a different message. Dr Mark Boulcott, the principal dental surgeon states: “I never tell parents to stop giving sweets. That message is unrealistic and unhelpful. The modern diet is full of sugary drinks, sugary confectionary and sugar containing meals. Instead I am far more interested in the frequency of sugar ingestion: how often patients eat sugar, not how much sugar.”

“It has been known for decades that sugar causes bacteria in the mouth to form acid which in turn damages teeth. Of course, no sugar equals no tooth decay, but what most patients (and indeed many dentists) fail to understand is that the amount of sugar required to cause bacteria to produce acid is minimal. The more sugar you eat does not mean more acid in your mouth – but even the slightest sugar intake causes tooth damage.”

Dr Boulcott points to evidence from as far back as the 1940s, when Dr Robert Stephan postulated the coincidence of reducing pH (acidity) and tooth decay: “It is evident even before the advent of the NHS that dental decay was not caused by having too much sugar, but by having too great a frequency of intake. Sugar causes damage by allowing mouth bacteria to produce acid but the amount of sugar eaten is irrelevant. Any damage caused by the acid (at a microscopic level) should be repaired provided the saliva is allowed and able to work properly, converting acid back to neutral products and acting to ‘repair’ damaged teeth. If sugar is regularly ingested and more acid is produced before this ‘repair’ process is completed then dental decay will result. The upshot of this is that if a child ate a chocolate bar for breakfast, lunch and dinner, it is in fact unlikely that they will get significant dental decay. If they eat the same amount of chocolate between meals, then they are much more likely: Twice the cycle of damage and far less time for repair. It should be understood that a sugar diet is inevitable,” states Dr Boulcott.

“What people must understand is that keeping food intake to mealtimes only is the best way to keep your teeth safe. This one fact is more important than tooth brushing or Fluoride. So, yes, Children (and adults) can eat sweets but keep these short acting (chocolate rather than a chewy sweet) and confine these to mealtimes – avoid eating between meals.”

Sadly some 60 years on and this simple message is still failing to get through. Dentistry and preventive messages still seem to mean little to a large percentage of the population with people in Wales being less likely to have been seen a dentist in the past two years than people in England. (52.2% of adults in Wales and 56% in England; and 64.7% of children in Wales compared to 69.1% in England). Many people argue that the reducing amount of NHS dentistry is to blame but in reality many patients (over half the population of Wales) seek dentists only in event of an emergency; citing anxiety rather than money (or NHS access) as being the major obstacle to visiting.

At Herbrandston, the dentists are trying to change this attitude by breaking down the barriers of fear and anxiety offering often unique ways of dealing with even the most difficult of dental phobias. This not only includes a gentle caring atmosphere of quiet professionalism mixed with genuine friendliness but also techniques such as dental sedation, hypnosis, introductory sessions without treatment and even animal therapy using pigs and ferrets to desensitize. They are working hard to emphasise the preventative message rather than the cycle of repair after repair. A very busy practice despite being in a rather isolated part of Pembrokeshire, Herbrandston will be expanding to open a state of the art new practice in Narberth in March.

Community

Secular Society backs council plan to remove church school status from Ysgol Cilgerran

Published

2 hours ago

July 24, 2026

Bruce Sinclair - Local Democracy Reporter

A FURTHER secular group has backed Pembrokeshire County Council’s plan to redesignate a north county faith primary school as a nonreligious community school.

Back in May, Pembrokeshire County Council voted to remove Voluntary Controlled (VC) status from Welsh-medium Ysgol Cilgerran’s Church in Wales school despite 97 per cent of the responses to a consultation having opposed a change which the church describes as ‘entirely unnecessary’.

That consultation followed a review which “considered the extent of surplus school places in the area, set against a significant decline in the pupil population,” the council has previously said.

Hundreds opposed the proposed changes, with a petition on the council’s own website gaining 391 signatures.

The Church in Wales has objected formally to the proposal and has warned it will take legal action on the grounds of “public misrepresentation and unqualified legal assertions made by Pembrokeshire County Council officers,” and “discrimination against faith schooling”.

At the council’s July meeting, Cilgerran parents, teachers, and students travelled to County Hall, Haverfordwest to protest.

Their colourful protest signs, made by students, carried messages such as “You can’t fix what isn’t broken”, “Leave our VC status alone”, and “Don’t take away our identity for a few £££”.

One of the protesters, an ex-pupil and governor, Sarah Moore, has said: “I’m here today because I’m horrified that the council are talking about taking the church status away from our school. The church gave that land for the school over 180 years ago.

“97 per cent have voted against this and yet they’re still trying to do it. If we want our children to stay in a church school, the nearest one is Letterston. So where will these children have that good education that they are getting now?”

The Church has said it has deep concern about what it sees as a pattern of the council’s recent actions regarding Church Schools.

In June, councillors voted to close Manorbier Church in Wales Voluntary Controlled School, which was damaged by a fire in 2022.

It has also expressed concerns about VC status being lost for Tenby Church in Wales VC school after councillors backed a consultation on penitential education changes in the Tenby area.

Wales Humanists recently supported the council plans, writing to Pembrokeshire County Council expressing its support for the proposal “on behalf of the area’s substantial non-religious community”.

It says, according to the 2021 Census, almost half of people in Pembrokeshire identified as having no religion.

Since then, another secular group, The National Secular Society (NSS), has expressed its support for the council.

The NSS campaigns for publicly funded faith schools to be phased out, and for religiously selective admissions to be abolished.

Welcoming the move, the NSS praised the council’s “secular approach to education” as the “best means of ensuring publicly funded schools are equally welcoming to all children, regardless of their backgrounds”.

The NSS added: “Inclusive schools which educate pupils together are one of our best means of promoting community cohesion, whilst faith schools which divide children on the basis of religion and are entirely out of step with the irreligious and religiously diverse Wales of today.

“Schools we all pay for should be managed in the best interests of everyone, not used as a vehicle for the agenda of religious institutions.”

Community

‘Warn and inform’ approach for breaches of dogs on beach restrictions to continue

Published

2 hours ago

July 24, 2026

Bruce Sinclair - Local Democracy Reporter

PEMBROKESHIRE is continuing to operate a “warn and inform” approach to tackling to dog owners bringing their pets to beaches where they are restricted, councillors heard.

Bylaws connected to restrictions on dogs on Pembrokeshire beaches are to come under the spotlight later this week in a series of questions to be heard at full council.

Traditionally running from May 1 to September 30, there are total bans on dogs at Tenby’s North Beach and Whitesands in St Davids.

Partial bans are in operation on parts of Lydstep, Newgale, Saundersfoot, Tenby Castle and South Beach, Amroth beach, Poppit Sands, Broad Haven North, and Dale.

There is also a voluntary dog restriction on the beach at Coppet Hall between 10am and 6pm.

Guide dogs are welcome on Pembrokeshire’s beaches all year round.

In a three-pronged series of submitted questions heard at the July meeting of Pembrokeshire County Council, Councillor Rhys Jordan asked for details surrounding dogs on beaches bylaws.

“Can the relevant Cabinet Member confirm where the operative beach dog bylaws, schedules, amendments and deposited plans are currently published, and whether all public-facing maps, signs and webpages accurately reflect the legal restrictions in force?

“Can the relevant Cabinet Member confirm who formally approved the council’s 2026 approach to beach dog restrictions, including any warning-led or ‘warn and inform’ approach, and who is currently authorised to enforce the byelaws following the end of WISE’s ([Waste Investigations Support & Enforcement)] involvement in enforcement for Pembrokeshire County Council?

“Given the lack of substantive response to requests for this information, the apparent difficulty in producing relevant and legal governance documents, and the need for residents and visitors to understand any legal restrictions with certainty, will the relevant Cabinet Member agree to suspend enforcement and active promotion of the 2026 beach dog restrictions until the byelaws, deposited plans, decision records and enforcement arrangements have been verified and published in one accessible location?”

Cllr Jordan has previously said he felt that “blanket bans” on some of the county’s beaches were “overly punitive on dog owners”.

Responding to the submitted question Cabinet Member for Residents Services Cllr Rhys Sinnett said the authority “remains satisfied the current restrictions continue to operate lawfully and doesn’t consider there to be grounds to suspend enforcement relating to these restrictions”.

He said, however, the council is reviewing enforcement implementation and wider authorisations as part of ongoing work relating to antisocial behaviour and public protection matters, adding the information was available on the council’s website.

In a series of supplementary questions, Cllr Jordan asked: “If a member of the public ignores dog beach restrictions today, what statutory enforcement will Pembrokeshire County Council take?”

Cllr Sinnett said the council was continuing a “warn and inform” approach as it had since the cessation of the WISE contract, adding: “Officers provide advice, guidance and warnings as a primary approach; for known or persistent offenders the authority retains the ability to utilise statutory measures such as community protection warnings or community protection notices.

“While breaches of a bylaw may result in a financial penalty it’s important to note this is not automatic and any decision will be proportionate and evidence-based; no Fixed Penalty Notices are being issued this season.”

Community

New women’s support hub opens at Parc Dewi Sant

Published

17 hours ago

July 23, 2026

Tom Sinclair

WOMEN across the Dyfed-Powys area are set to benefit from improved access to specialist support following the opening of a new Women’s Centre Hub at Parc Dewi Sant.

Operated by The Nelson Trust, the hub forms part of the continued development of trauma-informed services for women experiencing multiple disadvantage.

It provides a safe and supportive environment where women can access practical advice, guidance and specialist help to address the challenges they face.

The Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner has worked alongside The Nelson Trust and partners from the Local Criminal Justice Board to support the development of the facility.

The project forms part of the board’s wider commitment to improving outcomes for women throughout the Dyfed-Powys area.

The hub was officially opened on Friday, July 3, bringing together organisations involved in delivering support and recognising the partnership work that helped establish the new service.

Peer support will also play an important role, with volunteers drawing on their own lived experiences to help women facing similar circumstances.

Referrals to the Dyfed-Powys service are currently made through the Community Rehabilitation Service via probation. The hub is not presently accepting self-referrals.

Police and Crime Commissioner Dafydd Llywelyn said: “Women experiencing multiple disadvantage deserve access to the right support at the right time.

“By working closely with our partners, we can help ensure that women across our communities are able to access the specialist services they need to address the challenges they face and build safer, more positive futures.

“This partnership demonstrates what can be achieved when organisations come together with a shared commitment to supporting vulnerable members of our communities.”