DIET
AND DENTAL HEALTH
Task 1. Look through the text and find sentences where different kinds of food mentioned. Which products are healthy and which ones are not?
Your body is like a complex machine. The foods you choose as fuel and how
often you “fill up” affect your general health and that of your teeth and gums.
Many dentists are concerned that their patients are consuming record numbers of
sugar-filled sodas, sweetened fruit drinks, and non-nutritious snacks that affect
their teeth. These items generally have little if any nutritional value and
over time they can take a toll on teeth.
Food choices and dietary patterns - along with many other factors -
influence dental health. The development of dental caries (tooth decay)
involves the interaction of saliva, oral bacteria, fermentable carbohydrates,
and the tooth. Each plays an important role in the process.
Many of the foods we eat, including some of the most valuable foods from
the standpoint of human nutrition, provide nourishment for the bacteria in the
mouth. These bacteria act on the sugar in the diet and secrete acids that can
erode enamel, and lead to cavities. We feed the bacteria in our mouth every time
we eat carbohydrates. These come in two types: sugars and cooked starch like
bread and biscuits, which are broken down to sugars by an enzyme in the saliva.
The bacteria in the mouth then treat them as though you had eaten plain sugar. Sweets
like cake and candy are not much worse for your teeth than bread, biscuits,
potato chips, fruit salad, and a glass of milk. Researches show that some candy
is potentially less destructive to the teeth than bread, biscuits and some
fruits (apples, bananas) which were previously considered safe or even
protective against cavities, may actually promote tooth decay.
Milk is an excellent source of calcium and children need milk daily as long
as they are growing. It definitely helps during the stage when teeth are being
formed. But once the teeth are fully formed, calcium intake ceases to have much
effect. Hence, milk is harmful if retained in the mouth for long periods, and
it does not help in preventing tooth decay.
Snacks like bread, biscuits and potato chips are harmful if not brushed-off
soon after eating.
Cheese can be considered to be an anti-cavity food. It stimulates flow of
saliva, which may help to repair early cavity formation. This food item has
universal appeal. You may serve cheese as a snack, or at the end of a meal.
Like most sugars, chocolates play a role in tooth decay. But they have been
unfairly singled out as a major cause of cavities. All foods containing sugar
or cooked starch have the potential to promote tooth decay. Thus, chocolate is
no more harmful than a snack of potato chips or an aerated drink.
Aerated drinks are acidic in nature. They have the capacity to destroy the
enamel of the tooth. We see a lot of youngsters having extensive decay caused
by excessive consumption of aerated drinks.
Fruits and vegetables are natural cleansers of the biting surfaces of the
teeth, due to the high fiber content in them. However, most of them also
contain sugar and they do not get cleared from the mouth very fast.
As long as children are not eating all day long and are brushing properly
with fluoride toothpaste, we can stop nagging them about snack selection.
become less significant than it was in the past. Concepts concerning diet
and cavities have changed dramatically. Today there is decreasing emphasis on
dietary counseling as the most effective strategy to prevent cavities in
children. The traditional advice to avoid sticky sweets and between-meal snacks
is being relaxed for most cavity-free children who are exposed to fluoride and
comprehensive dental care. Many children need snacks daily to help meet their
nutritional needs, and parents should choose and offer snack-foods accordingly.
Diet forms an important component in supporting dental health behind the
caries-protective effects of water fluoridation and the good dental hygiene
practices of correct tooth brushing at least twice a day using fluoride-containing toothpaste. More frequent
tooth brushing and the less frequent consumption of sugary foods will both
support a further reduction in dental caries rates in the population.
Task 2. Find in the text so called "international" words and translate them into Russian.
Task 3 . Translate the following sentences. What grammar rule is used in them?
a 1) Milk definitely
helps during the stage when teeth are being formed.
b 2) When the
teeth are fully formed, calcium intake ceases to have much effect.
c 3) The
traditional advice to avoid sticky sweets and between-meal snacks is being
relaxed for most cavity-free children who are exposed to fluoride and
comprehensive dental care.
Task 4. Match the words, make up sentences with them and translate them into Russian.
oral carbohydrates
valuable source
fermentable intake
excellent bacteria
calcium foods
universal starch
cooked appeal
Task 5. Match pairs of synonyms.
complex,
variety, affect, involve, pattern, supply, include, difficult, provide,
influence
Task 6. Make up sentences from two colomns, correct them in grammar and translate.
1.
The
foods a)
stimulates flow of saliva.
2.
The
development of tooth b) need milk daily as long as they are growing.
decay
3.
These
bacteria c)
does not help in preventing tooth
decay.
4.
Acids d)
can erode enamel and lead to
cavities.
5.
Children e)
affect your health, teeth and gums.
6.
Milk f)
involves the interaction of saliva,
oral bacteria,
fermentable carbohydrates and the tooth.
7.
Chocolates g)
act on the sugar in the diet and
secrete acids.
8.
Cheese h)
have been unfairly singled out as a major cause of
cavities.
Task 7. Find English equivalents to Russian words and word combinations:
1. сложный
механизм
2. дантисты обеспокоены
3. пациенты потребляют
4. развитие
зубного кариеса
5. способствовать
разрушению зуба
6. потребление
кальция
7. универсальная привлекательность
8. натуральные очистители
9. перестать пилить (ругать)
Task 8. Find in the text sentences where it is said:
а)
частота потребления пищи влияет на здоровье ваших зубов и десен;
б)
многие виды пищи, даже те, которые считаются полезными, дают питательную среду
для бактерий;
в)
некоторые конфеты менее вредны для зубов, чем фрукты;
г)
молоко не предотвращает разрушение зуба;
д)
сыр может считаться пищей, которая предотвращает появление полостей в зубе;
е)
фрукты и овощи благодаря высокому содержанию в них клетчатки считаются
природными очистителями;
Task 9. Give the main ideas of the text using the following cliche in Russian. translate your sentences from Russian into English.
В
статье говорится о …
Исследования
показывают, что …
Определенно
можно сказать, что …
В
заключение отмечается, что …
