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

Flood alert issued for Pembrokeshire coast as high tides and conditions raise risk

Published

54 minutes ago

January 23, 2026

Luke Sinclair

A FLOOD ALERT has been issued by Natural Resources Wales for the Pembrokeshire coastline, with flooding possible along stretches between St Dogmaels, near Cardigan, and Amroth.

Residents and businesses in coastal areas are being urged to remain vigilant and to prepare for the potential impacts of flooding as conditions develop.

Natural Resources Wales advises people in affected areas to follow any existing flood plans and to ensure they know where family members and pets are, with arrangements in place to move them to safety if required. Important and sentimental items, key documents and valuables should be placed somewhere secure and above potential flood levels.

People are also encouraged to make sure their mobile phones are fully charged, to familiarise themselves with how to turn off electricity, gas and water supplies, and to prepare a small emergency bag in case they need to leave their home. Essential items may include medication, a phone and charger, warm clothing, baby or pet supplies, sanitary items and insurance documents.

Where possible, cars, livestock and equipment should be moved away from areas at risk of flooding.

The public is strongly warned not to walk or drive through floodwater. As little as 30 centimetres (one foot) of moving water can sweep a car away, while 15 centimetres can be enough to knock a person off their feet.

Further information is available via the Natural Resources Wales flood warning service at
https://flood-warning.naturalresources.wales/Detail/102WABT02.
Floodline can also be contacted on 0345 988 1188 using quick dial number 503013.

Up-to-date river, rainfall and sea levels can be checked at https://naturalresources.wales/riverlevels.

Flood alerts and warnings can be managed by calling Floodline on 0345 988 1188. For the latest updates, Natural Resources Wales can also be followed on social media via @NatResWales.

Community

Council to hear Pembrokeshire genocide pensions petition

Published

6 hours ago

January 23, 2026

Bruce Sinclair - Local Democracy Reporter

A CALL for Pembrokeshire County Council to join other west Wales authorities in calling for its pension funds to be divested from companies profiting from genocide is to be heard by full council.

Recently, a call for Ceredigion County Council to stress it does not wish to be involved in companies connected with Israel during the ongoing Gaza crisis through its pension fund was backed by councillors.

A notice of motion before Ceredigion County Council’s October meeting, proposed by Cllr Endaf Edwards, said: “The ongoing and deeply concerning conflict in Gaza has led to significant loss of innocent life and widespread humanitarian suffering.

“Despite a temporary ceasefire in January 2025, hostilities have resumed, and conditions on the ground continue to deteriorate.”

Its calls included: a commitment to ethical governance and global justice; to express it does not wish to be associated with companies potentially complicit in war crimes or human rights violations; to write to the Welsh Pension Partnership, conveying these concerns and requesting a review of current investments; to request that the Dyfed Pension Fund and Welsh Pension Partnership strengthen their ethical investment policies; and to call on the Dyfed Pension Fund Committee and Welsh Pension Partnership to regularly review and publicly report on progress toward divestment from unethical holdings.

Following that, a petition was submitted on Pembrokeshire County Council’s own website, making a similar call.

The Pembrokeshire petition, started by Sarah Davies of Solidarity with Palestine Pembrokeshire, read: “We call upon Pembrokeshire County Council to pass a resolution calling on Dyfed Pension Fund to divest our pension money from companies profiting from genocide.

“As residents of Pembrokeshire, we are deeply concerned that the Dyfed Pension Fund (DPF) invests millions of pension fund money in companies complicit in Israel’s genocide, occupation, and apartheid against Palestinians. In addition, DPF uses the multinational asset management firm BlackRock to manage 40 per cent (£1.4 billion) of its total assets. BlackRock has been cited in a recent UN report as profiting from genocide.

“Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and other Welsh councils have already committed to divestment. We call upon Pembrokeshire County Council to use its influence to urge Dyfed Pension Fund to divest from these companies.”

The recently closed e-Petition attracted 560 signatures.

If a petition gets 500 signatures, the creator will have an opportunity to debate it at a future full council meeting.

Community

CPRW welcomes long-awaited grid report and calls for more transparency

Published

20 hours ago

January 22, 2026

Tom Sinclair

CPRW, the Welsh Countryside Charity, has welcomed the publication of the Independent Advisory Group’s long-awaited report on the Future Electricity Grid for Wales, which was first promised by the Welsh Government for December 2024.

The charity said the report, led by Professor Hywel Thomas, was “well-balanced” and, at times, “candid”, arguing it moves the debate beyond technical engineering questions to include the social and environmental issues that often drive opposition to new electricity infrastructure.

CPRW said one of the report’s key messages is that future grid investment must be planned strategically and designed “holistically and collaboratively” by all network operators, rather than through piecemeal schemes. The charity noted that such joined-up planning is tied to existing licence conditions, and said regulator Ofgem should consider whether network operators have failed to meet those obligations.

The charity also welcomed the report’s recognition that major infrastructure decisions involve trade-offs between quantifiable factors such as installation and lifetime operating costs and less tangible impacts on landscapes, wildlife and communities.

CPRW said these “softer” impacts can and should be assessed more rigorously, pointing to HM Treasury’s established approaches for valuing non-market impacts where public resources are involved, including methods that can place a financial value on landscape effects.

However, CPRW said the report highlights what it described as a “shocking” lack of transparency in strategic decision-making and insufficient community involvement when options are being developed.

The charity also suggested there may be gaps in the analysis, including whether enough attention has been paid to upgrading existing distribution networks using higher-capacity conductors, the potential use of High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) for long-distance transmission, or making the existing grid more “meshed” to provide greater flexibility.

CPRW said the report’s recommendations may have limited reach for some schemes where responsibility is retained elsewhere — such as certain transmission projects or cross-border distribution — but insisted it still adds weight to the wider debate.

Dr Jonathan F Dean said: “If these recommendations are followed, some of the more contentious projects will need to have a serious rethink, unless they are fudged as some form of strategic investment.”