How the food I eat makes my teeth stronger??

We must have healthy food for our teeth to develop properly. Minerals like calcium, phosphorous, fluoride and many other components included in a healthy diet are vital in the development of our teeth. We also need good food for healthy gums around the teeth. A vitamin deficiency (like Vitamin C deficiency) causes huge damage to the health of our gums.

Equally important is the fact that foods high in certain sugars (Sweets) may make our teeth more prone for decay. It is not only the amount of sugar but also the frequency, form, timing and foods that we have with the sweets are the factors that determine how much our teeth are at risk to decay.


Essentially we should keep the following facts in mind:

• More the frequency of sugar (sweet) intake; higher the teeth are at risk. Thus to minimize the bad effects of sugar on teeth we must restrict ourselves from in between meal snacking with sugar products. We should substitute the sugar snacking with ‘tooth friendly snacks’ (eg cheese, nuts, raw vegetables, unsweetened yogurt, bananas) or with non-sugar sweetened foods(bulk sweeteners like sorbitol, mannitol, xylitol).

• The least threatening is the sweet in liquid form (eg a sugared milk shake, pudding, custard, sherbet) as it is readily cleared from our mouths. Then is the sugar in solid & sticky state (eg cakes, pastry, jelly, caramel) and most threatening form is slowly dissolving (breath mints, hard candies, cough drops, antacid tablets) sugar containing products.

• Having sugar with our meal makes it least risky for our teeth and thus should be encouraged over in between meal intake.

• Having cheese or milk (without sugar) with decay producing foods has been shown to reduce their ability to damage our teeth.



• Exposure to mineral fluoride during developmental and maturation stage of teeth has prominent tooth strengthening results against decay.

• Xylitol containing chewing gums too have proved their protective role against tooth decay.

So keep these basic facts in your mind and help your teeth fight against decay. Remember to visit your dentist at least once in six months. Ask his professional advice as to how can you improve your diet and enjoy benefits in both your general and dental health.

Luv n Luk,
Smile ConfiDentally,

Dr. Pranjal Sharma.

What is Healthy Diet???

Very often in my schedule a question similar to this one comes up- What food is good for my teeth?? Can I eat chocolates, Ice-creams, Cakes etc without damaging my teeth?? What makes a healthy food??

So let us discuss these questions one by one in the coming posts, starting from the question- “What is healthy food?”

We are what we eat. Thus having a healthy diet will render us healthy. Healthy food is one that includes the following major food groups in your every day meal:


• Fruits and Vegetables;
• Breads and Cereals;
• Milk and Dairy Products;
• Meat, Fish and Eggs.

There should be adequate amount and proportion of all these food groups in our diet. Our diet should include nutrients adequately met for maintaining health, vitality & general well being & also makes provision for a short duration of leanness.

Food pyramid gives us a pictorial representation of food groups that should be included in Balanced Diet or Healthy Diet. This new food pyramid also includes exercises to emphasize its importance.

So now make sure you include all food groups in proper proportions and enjoy a new yourself from healthy food habits.

Luv n Luk,

Smile ConfiDentally, :)

Dr Pranjal Sharma

The food pyramid shown here is sourced from this link-- 'Food Pyramid shown here'

Smile ConfiDentally!!! :)

Hi friends,

I pray that this post of mine meets you in joy, love and peace. Sharing my thoughts and ideas through this blog has been an amazing experience so far and I am very sure our pleasant vibes will take us a long long way. I heartily thank you for all your interest, appreciation, ideas and feedbacks and it’s my continuous endeavor to come up to your expectations. Being a dentist professionally, I take it as my personal obligation and responsibility to increase awareness and educate towards a healthier smile – the expression of joy!!!; which is undeniably the most beautiful human expression. The idea of utilizing this platform is taking shape much to the credit of my friends Mr Mihir Shah, Dr Priyanka Nadig, Dr Aditi Tiwari, Mr Chirag Patni, Ms Megha Raina and my brother Dr Dhruv Sharma. It is their constant encouragement and belief that has convinced me that sharing my expertise on this portal is a realizable idea. Also, this initiation is very close to my heart as it is due to my recent learnings at my institute(Coorg Institute of Dental Sciences), where I am currently pursuing my masters, and the enchanting teachers that we have been blessed with has made me able enough to share my knowledge in this domain. It is to all my teachers (of dentistry & life) that I dedicate this effort. It is my prayer that may this learning never halts and the joy of knowledge continues to fascinate me forever.

Now, there are some questions about diet & snacking which are very frequently asked in our dental set-up. So to start with I will be coming up with a series of posts in an attempt to answer these queries. I will be giving a bird’s view with as simple as possible explanation towards these FAQs. However you are heartily welcome to interact related to the topic through the ‘thoughts’ window with your queries, experiences & ideas.

Luv n Luk always,
Smile ConfiDentally :)

Dr Pranjal Sharma.

My Visit To Opportunity School

On Thursday the alarm in my phone is programmed to cut short my trip to dream world earlier than on other days, and I don’t mind that a bit. Thursday is the day when I visit the opportunity centers for special children. I need to visit two centers; one an opportunity school in Madikere (or Mercara) and the other a special child center in Pollibetta, on first and second Thursday of every month respectively.

Today was my second visit to the opportunity school. So I already knew how wonderful experience it is to do something beneficial for these special children. It’s an hour long convoluted drive from my college through the Coorg mountains. So by the time we reach there we feel as if we are just coming out of a tora-tora ride!! :) But as we meet these lovely children we are soon energized by the enthusiasm and the sheer cuteness with which they come to us. The staff at school too is very supportive.

Today the first child I met was maria (name changed) a 4+ years old girl who manifests Down’s syndrome and deafness. What is making me write about her is her ability to connect to us just with her expressions… She had early to extensive carious lesions on her teeth and so it was decided that today the less extensive treatment would be rendered to her and as her confidence in receiving dental treatment increases we would give her the comprehensive treatment.

As I see her coming towards me, being walked by her teacher, I notice her sweet smile and then she holds my hand in a way that instantly makes me feel connected to her. Before making her sit on the dental chair, we started knowing each other and soon we were conveying with our gestures and expressions. As my colleague Dr Wilson was treating her, she found the most amusing gadget for herself, the dental three way syringe which has air and water outlet!! :) She would endlessly enjoy the air puff over her face and palms and making this a game we started with the treatment for her. Soon with this play the treatment planned was over.

Following her we treated few more children. Everyone had a different shade of cuteness. They very easily win your heart and you find their world very pure and full of selfless affection which inevitably makes you contrast it with the relentless world we are used to.

On my way back, as on my last visit, I was already missing their company and was desiring that may the next month’s first Thursday comes soon………..

Luv n Luk

Pranjal.

Being Pedodontist...!!! :-)

Being Pedodontist is no child's play!! :)

All good things come in small packages; to me they come small, unsure, whining, kicking and playful with their cuteness and innocence..... They are delicate and they are unrelenting at the same time, one moment they are calm and quite you and at just another they are off the dental chair!! ;) Usually they make life hell while treating them and the only reason you are not pulling your own hair is that you are wearing gloves but as they leave you after the appointment they very cutely tell you “thank you” with a smile as an icing and you wonder is he the same typhoon!! Hehe…

But actually it’s amazing to be amidst children whole day. They make sure all your work place rules are cosmetic!! Sometimes he comes to my table to show how wonderfully he has just done a painting in the play area, or at other instance she will tell how cute is the teddy that she is holding tight. :)
At times I play that “pakadam-paati” game to chase them towards the dental chair; and at other they quiz me with their sweet home work questions only to explain me the correct solutions soon after :)

“We could never have loved the earth so well if we had had no childhood in it.” said George Eliot, and it is the same childhood that I see in my guests everyday which makes me love my work sooooo much :) Childhood is the most beautiful of all life’s seasons and I am fortunate to have a pie of it every day and it keeps the child in me alive.

William Wordsworth’s "Child is the father of man" inspires me along our way.......
Above all nothing gratifies more than seeing a child smiling back at yourself.......

Luv n Luk always :)