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Bernabé E, Vehkalahti MM et al. J Dent Res 2015 Nov 9.pii: 0022034515616572

The Vipeholm study, linking frequency of sugar intake and dental caries, is etched in the mind of every dental care professional. Yet more robust studies have reported that it is the amount of sugar, and not frequency of intake, that is associated with caries. The key finding from this high impact study was that it is indeed the amount and not frequency of sugar intake that was associated with DMFT, and this relationship was linear. Caries and sugar consumption data (using a validated food frequency questionnaire) from 1,702 Finnish adults were collected at three sampling frames. Not only would limiting the amount of sugar, have dental health benefits but would address the 'the risk of other noncommunicable diseases related to excess sugars.' The third author of this paper is Aubrey Sheiham; during his distinguished career he championed the disenfranchised and challenged the establishment. Aubrey Sheiham died on Tuesday 24 November 2015.