Apparently, bedroom high jinks can take the shine off your smile... Getting a good night's sleep allows the body to recharge; however, for some of us regular spells of unbroken slumber are elusive.
There are groups of people who not only frequently waken but also have a compulsion to nibble in order for them to feel like they can fall back to sleep.
Night eating syndrome, which affects one in 100 people, is a type of eating disorder where a person wakes up and is fully conscious when snacking in bed. Sufferers hold firm beliefs that they must eat something in order to resume sleeping.
Another group of bedroom diners have a condition known as sleep related eating disorder, which is when a person isn't awake when they are munching the midnight nosh and they typically have no memory of the event the next day.
Both conditions are often accompanied by feelings of shame and depression. When we are asleep many bodily functions power down and this includes our saliva production, which slows during the night to 2 per cent of its daytime level.
It's as if our mouth fluctuates between a typical rainy Belfast day and a dry-as-a-bone Sahara Desert night. Saliva is our mouth and teeth's outstandingly effective protective lubricant.
Saliva contains bicarbonates, phosphates and proteins to help us digest our food and re-harden teeth, which is why it's more abundant during the day.
When we eat, our oral bacteria also eat. Night-time pecking disrupts the natural rhythm of the body and means that the teeth are swamped in food for an abnormally extended time, gifting the bad bacteria in our mouth a never-ending feast.
This prolonged sugary, acidy environment eats away and dissolves our teeth.
Research shows that nocturnal nibblers end up losing more teeth even after accounting for other factors such as age, smoking and sugar consumption.
Another study showed that teenagers were up to four times more likely to suffer tooth decay than those who go to bed early.
If you are a bedtime snacker and want to stop in order to improve your general health and protect your teeth then antidepressants, relaxation techniques and cognitive behavioural therapy may help to shift your appetite from night-time to daytime.
