majestic; her Face oblong, fair, but
wrinkled; her Eyes small, yet black and
pleasant; her Nose a little hooked; her Lips
narrow, and her Teeth black; (a defect the
English seem subject to, from their too
great use of Sugar)...We now know that certain kinds of
Streptococcus bacteria colonize the mouth and
cling to undisturbed surfaces, where they live
on food residues, converting sugars into sticky
“plaque” carbohydrates that anchor and
protect them, and into defensive acids that eat
away at tooth enamel and so cause decay.
Clearly, the more food there is for the
bacteria, the more active they will be, and
hard sugar candies that slowly dissolve in the
mouth provide a feast for them. But pure
sugar is not the only culprit in tooth decay.
Starchy foods like bread, cereals, pasta, and
potato chips are also harmful because they
stick to the teeth and then are broken down