Sugar sends the bacteria in your mouth into a feeding frenzy, producing acids that damage your teeth and lead to decay. But if you’re an average Canadian, you’re already eating 40 kg of sugar in a year.

Solution: Realistically, most every food has some form of sugar and if you cut every food containing sugar from your diet, you’d be missing out on important nutrients. However, what you can do to improve your oral health is reduce—or eliminate—foods containing added sugars, including glucose, honey and molasses.