Everything in Moderation
By Dr. John F. Miller, DDS – Smile Montana
I have lived in Whitefish for the last 15 winters and I did something last weekend for the very first time. This could be the most iconic Montana winter experience, and I had yet to make its acquaintance. I went to Big Sky. More specifically, I snowboarded Big Sky Resort for a day with my two boys. Why have I never been? Honestly, it’s pretty far, it’s pretty pricey, and if I am going to travel and spend for snow, I’m going to go the opposite direction…into the British Columbia backcountry. So why go now? Easy—my oldest son Banks was in a Slopestyle/Rail Jam competition and I’m pretty committed to not missing these “kid things” as they are getting older and on the verge of flying the coop.
My impression of Big Sky after over ten years of only riding chair lifts at Big Mountain is somewhere between WOW and WHOA! It’s fancy, and big, and bougie, and big and…you get it. I found myself thinking this is so cool while simultaneously hoping Whitefish doesn’t get like this. It was a warm and sunny day with no new snow.
So my son Maxwell and I were crushing groomers and checking out their 8-person heated bubble chair. In other words, having a blast. Banks did great in his comp and not surprisingly Big Sky’s freestyle park was a huge improvement over Big Mountain’s…according to him. It’s super cool, not totally sure it’s my jam.
This trip required approximately 13 hours of windshield time. This required a good audiobook (Project Hail Mary if you’re curious), and a solid snack game. I’m going to be fully transparent with you all. Day in and day out I’m quite disciplined physically and nutritionally, but a long road trip is my weakness. Obviously it’s not physically beneficial just sitting for that long. We did do some calisthenics outside Helena, however. And nutritionally, phew, it all goes out the window for me.
So here it goes. We drove through the Swan so our supply stop was the Town Pump across from the Blue Moon. Already so basic, right? Full disclosure: sugar-free Red Bull 12-ounce, Kettle Salt and Vinegar chips, Trolli Sour Worms, and Teriyaki beef jerky. My son does not drink unhealthy liquids (his personal goal and choice…also, he’s rad) so he had a water, but we shared everything else. When we started the drive, I proposed to Maxwell that we only allow ourselves a snack every half hour. So basically every 30 minutes on the hour and on the half hour we could each have one chip, one piece of jerky, and one worm. As a weird way of maybe making the trip go faster but mostly making the snacks last the whole way. It felt fun and healthy-ish.
Now, as a dentist I will tell you that this was the absolute worst way to consume snacks for optimal tooth health. We all have microflora/bacteria in our oral environments. And we all have a sampling of the same types of bacteria but in varying ratios. When these bacteria are given a source of fuel in the form of carbohydrates, they will metabolize (eat) said carbs and produce acid as a byproduct (waste). The two main bad guys that cause tooth decay are Streptococcus mutans and Lactobacillus, and they produce lactic acid specifically.
This acid lowers the local pH on the tooth surface down into levels that promote the demineralization of your tooth surface, also known as enamel. At the same time, the natural process of saliva production, which ramps up during eating (Pavlov’s dog anyone?), is acting as our main buffering agent against this acid situation. Assuming healthy salivary function, our normal healthy pH levels will be restored in approximately 30 minutes after our last bite of carb-laden food. Obviously candy is like jet fuel for these bugs, but it is everything with fermented carbs such as bread, juice, milk, pastas, Starbucks, etc. that will foster acid production.
Be honest with yourself and your own body.
If you have been paying attention and doing the math, my road trip snacking method would never allow my oral environment (typed oral cavity at first…I didn’t like it) to return to normal and healthy pH levels. Mine and Maxwell’s teeth were subjected to fermentable carbs literally every 30 minutes. Is this responsible of me? It definitely would be if I snacked like this all the time. But I don’t, and my healthy teeth (no cavities going on 20 years) can 100% survive a brief window of Trolli Sour Worm assault. I would also like to add that I did require a vigorous swish with alkaline water after every 30-minute snacking, which greatly accelerated our return towards healthy pH levels, but even if we didn’t we would still be fine.
Famous 19th century British playwright Oscar Wilde is quoted as saying, “Everything in Moderation.” Which can be interpreted as saying, it’s normal to cut loose every once in a while. I’m not the Dentist who is going to tell you to never eat candy, or to never have your favorite coffee order, or your favorite soft drink. I’m the dentist who is going to tell you to be educated on what those items are doing on a microscopic level in your mouth. Leaving your insert carb source of choice here (examples include latte, soda, energy drink, Skittles, chocolate, etc.) on your desk and sipping/snacking every few minutes or a few hours every day is hard on your teeth.
I invite you to snack and sip like you’re robbing a bank. In and out, smash and grab. The longer you are in there, the more likely the cavity cops will catch you. Then you have to go to cavity court and stand in front of the judge…which is me. I know that once I start getting weird it’s time to wrap it up.
Moderation is the message here folks. A bottle of ibuprofen tells us that the max dose is 400mg yet doctors and dentists routinely prescribe ibuprofen 800’s (800 mg pills) for acute pain. But that is twice the max recommended dose, isn’t it? I’m sure your body can totally handle a day or two of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory excess to get you comfortably through your pain. The 400 mg message is for folks who are going to take ibuprofen every day indefinitely.
This is the same for a bag of Trolli Sour Worms (can you tell I really like these?). If I asked my physician if I should eat a bag a day they would say absolutely not. But if I said, “hey, I’m pretty healthy day in and day out, could I share a bag maybe once every two months?” They would likely be fine with that. Just be honest with yourself and your own body. Read that last sentence again. It’s actually really hard to do.
It has been an interesting winter to say the least. Very warm and even though we have had a lot of precipitation it has come in the form of rain which is exactly the opposite of how we want it. In fact, it is raining right now as I write this. By all metrics it has been a sub-par snow year. We are setting records for warmth all across the west, and despite all that I think this has been my most enjoyable winter yet.
It’s often said on the slopes, don’t leave snow to find snow. But I have been doing just that this winter. I have made it up to the British Columbia backcountry 3 times in 2026 and it has been delightful. A huge shout out to my wife Julie Miller for agreeing to this snow bum schedule. She only rolled one eye which is…weird! How did she do that? In addition, I’ve watched several amazing sunrises and sunsets from my splitboard and have learned to love a crisp clean Groomer bomb. All in the company of great friends.
Lastly I have spent every Saturday with my family, whether in Big Mountain or on whichever ski hill my son Banks is competing in Slopestyle for that weekend. I’ll choose snowboarding with my wife and kids every time. If you made it this far…hey thanks!!
Read Everything in Moderation by Dr. John F. Miller, DDS, in 406 Woman magazine.