Have Candy, Will Decay

Dentist say there is a 100 percent correlation between diet and tooth decay; and that the worst thing in diet is the eating of refined sugar as found in candy and other sweets. That is why, says American dentist Brian Hollander, there is less tooth decay in the lesser developed areas of Nepal, where little refined sugar is consumed.

While trekking in Khumbu in 1981, Hollander examined the teeth of Sherpa children. He found that the incidence of tooth decay was directly related to how "developed" – that is, how exposed to tourists – villages were. There was 76 percent occurrence of caries – tooth decay – in Namche Bazaar, 56 percent in Khumjung and only 17 percent in Phortse, a village then, off the trek trail.