You may be surprised, but every occupation out there comes with inherent risks. For instance, when you’re battling crime as a police officer, you need to arm yourself for protection. Even more astounding, jobs that you may find as rather common could be most risky. In America, you’re bound to find logging and fishing topping that list. Meaning: these jobs could get you killed. Talk about being a frontliner in COVID-19 times.

Unbeknownst to everyone, taking a job as a baker also comes with some risks too. It may not be a life-defying job. Studies show a baker and a good set of teeth are not a good team. Baking is certainly bad news for your teeth.

Interestingly enough, the main cause of poor oral health in bakers is not attributed to sweets. In part, yes. But truth be told, the biggest factor in bakers losing their teeth is flour dust. Insidious, right? You might say: How does that even make any sense?

For starters, flour dust isn’t really such an unblemished character we think it is. The ingredient has been hounded by a bad reputation for years now. Indeed, be warned. Government bodies all over the world have warned. Exposure to flour dust can cause asthma, not to mention itchiness in the eye. Come to think of it, teeth damage is the least of your concerns. And don’t fret. We shall show you how you can come out of it with all your pearly whites intact.

Flour Dust Is Bad for Oral Health

Flour dust over the years has been known as a hazardous substance. It can sure be shocking. We all love bread. But flour dust is an entirely different story.

For the uninitiated, flour is the most common ingredient in breadmaking. Without it, most of the bakeries in America would be empty. It’s possible, but it may not be as feasible, especially if you’re a bakery.

So how does flour dust cause bad teeth? The thing with flour dust is the abrasive effect it has on the teeth. The mere presence of these minute components causes abrasion on hard tissues of the teeth. If left to its own devices over time, it can lead to tooth decay.

And the effects are not to be laughed at. A study carried out on flour mill workers demonstrated how destructive the abrasive effect of flour dust is. There were 40 males and 8 females in the study. At the end of the study, researchers found out about 93.75% of the workers had tooth abrasion.

Think how exposed bakers are to flour dust. You got that right. They are exposed to flour dust daily. It’s part of the terrain. When mixing pastries, pouring flour into large containers, and other stages, they come in contact with the super-fine particles from flour.

To make matters worse, bakers often taste the mixture when baking. And that means being exposed to a lot of sugar and other ingredients not good for the teeth every day.

How to Have Good Teeth as a Baker

It’s all about habits. For one, you should drop by a dentist’s clinic at the soonest time possible. The teeth doctor can give you an honest assessment of the state of your teeth. Even better, he can recommend certain measures to diminish your exposure to flour dust and other materials harmful to your pearly whites.

The good news is today, technology can certainly help you in attaining superior health for your teeth. For one, repair technology can give you functional incisors in no time. A concrete example is the advent of 3D printing in dental works.

You can’t beat the precision and accuracy that a 3D machine can give you when it comes to providing stunning teeth. Plus, you can have all that within a short time. What used to take days can now happen in a matter of hours.

Of course, the best recourse you should have as a baker (or someone with a sweet tooth) is prevention. Choosing to have clean, white teeth right from the onset means doing what it takes to prevent tooth decay. In our context, it means minimizing the occasion when flour dust can enter your mouth.

Making It Happen

So how should you go about it?

For starters, stick to precautionary measures when working. If you are the boss that owns a baker, ensure there’s local exhaust ventilation. That way, flour dust won’t accumulate needlessly. And harm you and your bakers.

Moreover, it is also important to vacuum when getting rid of flour dust. That way, all the specks wouldn’t scatter in the air when you’re cleaning up.

Plus, every baker should have respiratory protective equipment. By doing so, the transfer of the dust to the worker’s teeth and other parts of the body can be prevented.

Another important thing is reducing how often you taste the mixture. Try as much as you can to avoid over-tasting. If you can’t avoid it, then make sure you brush regularly. From time to time, brush your teeth using fluoride toothpaste. That way, you can improve your oral health while making sure your baking goodies end up as delicious as ever.

With this information in mind, you can take care of your health better while managing to become a better baker.