Speaker:  Jillian Kaye, MS RDN – Registered Dietitian Nutritionist
Speaker:  Robert H. Lustig, MD, MSL
Speaker:  Cristin Kearns, DDS, MBA

Mountain Dew Mouth has been the scourge of dentists for decades. But there’s a new disease which affects even more people: Mountain Dew Liver. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). wasn’t even discovered until 1980; and now up to 1/3 of Americans suffer from it. Especially children - 13% of autopsies in children show NAFLD; and 38% of obese children.
Both tooth decay and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease rates have been increasing. And excessive sugar consumption explains both.
Dietary sugar is composed of one molecule each of glucose and fructose. It is the fructose that is the primary driver of both diseases. While glucose contributes to the oral biofilm, fructose doesn't. It is metabolized by oral bacteria into lactic acid, which readily diffuses through the biofilm and into the tooth. Alternatively, fructose gets turned into fat in the liver mitochondria, which drives NAFLD, which is the leading cause of liver transplantation now, surpassing alcohol. And yet who is most susceptible to both diseases? Children, because they are the biggest sugar consumers. 

Doctors, dentists and dietitians must be united in supporting public health measures to reduce chronic disease. Altering our diet is where public health prevention starts.
Learning Objectives:

• Learn how sugar leads to oral and systemic disease
• Understand current modalities to control oral and systemic disease are only adjuncts, not primary therapies
• Learn how doctors, dentists and dietitians must band together to combat chronic disease

Speaker Contacts: jk3628@nyu.edu, robert.lustig@ucsf.edu, & cristin.kearns@ucsf.edu

Ability to claim CE expires on May 25, 2028. Video content available to view until May 25, 2030.