Dental News - Sugar consumption pushes global dental costs over €12.8 billion

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Sugar consumption pushes global dental costs over €12.8 billion

Research on sugar consumption involving 168 countries has found that people are eating too much, resulting in a very high dental health and cost burden. (Photograph: Lightspring/Shutterstock

Wed. 23. August 2017

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HALLE, Germany: According to a joint study conducted by researchers at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) and the Biotechnology Research and Information Network (BRAIN) in Germany, people across the globe are eating far too much sugar. Involving 168 countries, the study used data from 2010 on the prevalence of caries, periodontitis and tooth loss, on disease burden and the corresponding costs of treatment, and on sugar consumption.

Researchers took into consideration both free sugars and hidden sugars, which are contained in many processed products, such as soft drinks, ketchup, ice cream and frozen foods, as well as breads, cakes and pastries. According to their results, the bill for this global sweet tooth was around €12.8 billion (US$17.2 billion) in 2010.

“The data shows a clear correlation between the consumption of sugar and the incidence of caries, periodontitis and, as a result, tooth loss,” said the lead author of the study, Dr Toni Meier from MLU. “For every additional 25 grams of sugar consumed per person and day—which amounts to roughly eight sugar-cubes or a glass of sweetened lemonade—the costs of dental treatment in high-income countries increase on average by 100 US dollars (75 euros) per person and year.”

Germany, Switzerland, Denmark and the US were among the countries with the highest costs per person per year, averaging €210 (US$281), €300 (US$402), €178 (US$238) and €138 (US$185), respectively. In Germany, between 90 and 110 g of sugar was consumed per person per day in 2010. The highest levels of sugar-related dental illness were found in Guatemala, Mauritania and Mexico.

“Newly industrialised countries such as India, Brazil and Mexico, but also Pakistan and Egypt, could avoid an excessive burden of illness and of health care costs by anchoring the topic in their health and nutritional policies at an early stage,” said study co-author Prof. Gabriele Stangl from MLU.

With a low-sugar diet becoming increasingly difficult to follow, since almost all processed products in the supermarket contain large quantities of added sugars, the researchers believe the way to alleviate the burden of nutrition-related illnesses is via a balanced mix of educational efforts and food policy initiatives, along with innovative technological solutions.

The study, titled “Global burden of sugar-related dental diseases in 168 countries and corresponding health care costs”, was published in July (Issue 8) in the Journal of Dental Research. It was co-financed by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research and carried out within the NatLifE 2020 strategic alliance, which aims to develop a new generation of sustainably produced and biologically active substances for foods and cosmetics and thereby to make a contribution towards improving human nutrition, health and well-being.

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