Cathy Warschaw

Preventing cavities is not just about good dental hygiene; it also is about what you eat and when you eat it. When you eat during meals the food does not stay on your teeth as long as when you eat in between meals. So if you have to have a sweet, it is better to have it with your meal than in between meals. Most people brush only after meals. Since it only takes about 20 minutes for plague to start forming on your teeth and to begin to damage enamel if you eat between meals and do not brush until after the next meal a lot of time will have passed from the time you eat your snack to the time you next brush your teeth.