You might want to add a warning against that 2 A.M. ice-cream-out-of-the-carton treat to your repertoire of preventive advice. Maybe this is a big DUH! but it's been scientifically proven that eating food late at night contributes to tooth loss, regardless of the type of food eaten, according to American and Danish researchers, who cited reduced saliva flow. They suggested that practitioners screen patients for nocturnal eating. OK.......
The study participants who were classed as nocturnal eaters--that is they consumed a quarter or more of their daily calories after their evening meal, and would wake and have a snack in the middle of the night at least twice a week--had lost more teeth at the later point in the study than the non-nocturnal eaters. This is even
taking into account potential influencing factors like age, smoking status, and the amount if sugar or carbs in their diet. The researchers suggested that practitioners screen patients for nocturnal eating.
You can read about the study, by researchers at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, and Copenhagen University, in the August print issue of Eating Behaviors, which is already available online.