Dentists are calling on companies to end the “cake culture,” as they believe it contributes to obesity and poor oral health. Firms should eliminate biscuits from meetings and limit treats during lunch hour – they also suggest providing employees with tips for cutting back.
Celebrate any dentist, orthodontist, hygienist, or dental school graduate with this fun tooth-inspired cake! Covered in plaque-colored royal icing, it features strawberry jam, licorice, and tartar-colored buildup – perfect for commemorating their achievement!
1. Good for your teeth
Sugary foods, acidic foods, and starches all can have severe repercussions for our teeth, feeding the bacteria that live on plaque. When combined, they break down sugar into acids that erode the hard enamel of teeth, leading to cavities and eventually even further decay. Although avoiding such food may seem easy, it can often prove difficult when offered for tea or lunch break at work by coworkers with tempting offers of delicious-looking cakes – especially when they provide this tempting treat to us as employees!
Dentists have recently begun encouraging managers to offer fruit and nuts as an alternative sweet snack instead of cakes for office workers’ sweet snack needs, believing this will not only reduce obesity rates but also enhance dental health at their offices.
Though indulging in cake from time to time won’t harm your teeth, for optimal dental health, it is wise to limit its intake to regular meals. Sugar from cakes can linger on teeth, leading to gum disease and tooth decay if eaten too often; to combat this, you should brush before and after every slice you consume or chew sugar-free gum to stimulate saliva and remove any remaining sugars from your gums and teeth.
Foods known to harm teeth include dried fruits, chocolate, and sugary sodas, all of which contain high concentrations of sugar that have been shown to damage them. On the flip side, milk and yogurt contain calcium, phosphate, and xylitol – two nutrients that have been proven to prevent tooth decay – that may actually help strengthen your enamel and keep cavities away.
Fruits such as berries can also help protect against tooth decay by providing phytochemicals to inhibit bacteria’s growth, helping prevent the spread of dental decay. Sugary drinks like soda and fruit juices should be avoided to keep teeth strong.
2. Makes a great gift
This tooth-shaped cake, made of delectable marshmallow fondant that mimics decaying molars, is an ideal way to honor any dentist or dental school graduate.
The cake features layers of sweet chocolate ganache, shoestring licorice, and strawberry jam, then is finished off with tartar-flavored royal icing for that “rotten tooth effect.”
Fondant is an edible white sugar paste made of gelatin and food-grade glycerine that’s easily formed into shape using molds. Working with fondant is very enjoyable – I enjoyed working on my very first fondant project! And I love the way it turned out!
3. Makes a great party favor
This cake is an ideal way to honor someone who enjoys their job as a dentist or orthodontics specialist; make it the perfect present for an office opening, graduation from dental school, or to show how much you care! It makes an impressive presentation! This sweet treat can also show your loved ones you appreciate them and show your support!
This custom cake was commissioned as a surprise gift for a friend’s husband’s graduation from Dental School. Creating it proved challenging due to requiring three-dimensional elements and carving dentures out from baked cake mix before covering them with marshmallow fondant and anatomically correct fondant teeth made by fondant artists.
This set of adorable dental tooth/teeth toppers makes fantastic Tooth Fairy-themed party decorations or unique gifts to commemorate a dentist, orthodontist, hygienist, getting braces off, or opening a dental office. Crafted using delicious homemade fondant and easily removable from their backing sheet for placement on cakes or around cupcakes for future events, durable enough to reuse again later! Each set contains 12 pieces that can be reused time after time!
4. It’s a lot of fun to make
Making a dentist cake can be done for various occasions: graduation from Dental School, losing their first tooth, or just because you want to have some fun! A cake celebrating someone who loves their job or is experiencing hardship in their career will always bring smiles!
Billy Kay, a Florida dentist for more than three decades, came up with an ingenious way to prevent germs from being spread during birthday candle blowout parties by blowing them out. As part of his job, he often noticed how invisible spit particles would fly off after guests lit candles at these events and cause problems later.
Photos by iStockphoto LP.
