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Welcome to Spotlight Advanced.
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I'm Adam Navis.
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And I'm Katy Blake.
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Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting.
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It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
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What do you think is the most common disease in the world?
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It is not cancer or heart disease or malaria.
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It is tooth decay, or dental caries or cavities.
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HALF of the world's population has problems with their teeth.
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The doctors and experts who treat these issues are dentists.
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Dr. Wagner Marcenes is a professor of Dentistry at the University of London.
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He is part of an international research team.
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They study tooth, or dental, health around the world.
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In a study from 2010, he explained how big this issue is:
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"There are close to four billion people in the world who suffer from untreated problems
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with their teeth.
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These problems cause tooth pain.
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They prevent people from eating and possibly sleeping properly.
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... We are facing serious problems in the population's mouth health."
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Dental caries are a very painful and unpleasant problem.
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But one main reason for them is sweet.
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It is eating sugar and sugary food.
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Eating sugary food is bad for teeth.
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But sugary food is becoming more popular around the world.
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So, how can people prevent these tooth problems?
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Today's Spotlight is on your teeth and sugar.
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Most adult humans have 32 teeth.
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Teeth help our faces keep their correct shape.
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They help us communicate through talking or smiling.
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And of course, they help us eat food.
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Everything we eat and drink passes through our mouths.
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The Mayo Clinic calls teeth the 'window to your overall health'.
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They explain on their website:
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“Did you know that the health of your mouth offers clues about your overall health?
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Did you know that problems in your mouth can affect the rest of your body?
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Like other areas of the body, your mouth is filled with bacteria.
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Most of it is harmless.
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But your mouth is the entry point to your body systems.
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Some of these bacteria can cause disease.
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Your oral, or mouth, health may add to other diseases and conditions, including problems
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with your heart, lungs or difficulties during pregnancy.”
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So how do we keep our mouths healthy?
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What we eat and drink has a great effect on our whole body.
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And it has particular results on the health of our teeth.
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One way to see these results is to look at what humans have eaten over many years.
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As our diet has changed – our dental health has changed too.
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Middle income countries have the highest level of tooth decay in the world.
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But levels of tooth decay in lower income countries are increasing quickly.
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Habib Benzian is the director of global health and policy at New York University's College
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of Dentistry.
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He explains to NPR how diet changes affect people's teeth:
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“Low-income countries usually have traditional diets.
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They eat more plant and meat-based foods.
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They eat less sugar and processed foods.
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But each country's social and economic conditions change.
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As that happens, there is a change in what people eat.
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It is a part of convenience.
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If you work all day and come home, you want quick food.
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Fast foods are fried, high in fat, sweet — and very cheap."
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Eating a lot of sugar is one of the most unhealthy things you can do.
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The World Dental Federation says eating and drinking sugar is the main cause of tooth
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decay.
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And globally, people are eating and drinking more and more sugar.
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The World Health Organization suggests each person should eat and drink less than 25 grams
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of sugar a day.
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But in many countries the average person eats and drinks much more than that.
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In some countries the average person eats two, three, or even four times more than that!
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As a result, there are a lot of ideas about how to reduce the amount of sugar people eat
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and drink.
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One idea is to put higher tax on sugary foods and drinks.
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Another idea is a legal limit on the amount of sugar in foods for babies and children.
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Another idea is to stop selling sugary products to young people and children.
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Sugar is a big part of one of the largest health crises in the world.
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But sugar is also one of the most important agricultural industries in the world.
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Many people make money from this industry.
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They do not want to sell less sugar.
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This makes dental health a complex global issue.
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Sugar is only one thing that affects people's dental health.
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A person's dental health depends on many things.
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An individual can usually make their own decisions about diet and hygiene, such as tooth brushing.
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But people cannot always control their economic situation.
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They cannot always control how much money they have or where they live.
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They cannot control their access to dental care.
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The effect of dental decay is much worse in very poor populations.
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This is true even in wealthy countries.
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There are many large systems that affect people's teeth.
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These problems can seem too big to solve.
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But the World Dental Federation says we can improve people's teeth around the world.
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In their document, “The Challenge of Oral Disease” they give ideas of what groups
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can do to help on different levels.
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They think that everyone around the world should be able to pay for good ways to prevent
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tooth problems, such as treatment with fluoride – a mineral that protects teeth.
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They also think everyone should have health care that will help them pay to see a doctor
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for their teeth when they need to.
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The World Dental Federation thinks that caring for our teeth and mouths should be connected
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to caring for the rest of our bodies.
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Strong, healthy teeth are important for the health of our whole body and sense of well-being.
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Most people cannot change the global dental system.
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But they do have some control over how well they take care of their teeth.
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And one easy thing everyone can do to take better care of their teeth is reduce how much
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sugar they eat.
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Do you eat or drink a lot of sugar?
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Do you have any teeth problems?
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You can leave a comment on our website.
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Or email us at radio@radioenglish.net.
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You can also comment on Facebook at Facebook.com/spotlightradio.
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The writer of this program was Rena Dam.
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The producer was Michio Ozaki.
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The voices you heard were from the United Kingdom and the United States.
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All quotes were adapted for this program and voiced by Spotlight.
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You can listen to this program again, and read it, on the internet at www.radioenglish.net.
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This program is called, “Sugar and Your Teeth.”
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Visit our website to download our free official app for Android and Apple devices.
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We hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight program.
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Goodbye.