A common question our dentists at Bridge Creek Dental are asked by parents when their child has a cavity is “What could we have done to prevent their cavity?”
If the dental hygiene is already taken care of, then another key culprit of children’s dental issues are snacks. There are 6 kinds of snacks which can quickly wear down the enamel of your child’s teeth and cause cavities and other dental issues.
Starchy Snacks
It is important that children are given few starchy snacks. Not only can they be choking hazards for young children, but a starchy snack will quickly turn to sugar, which attracts bacteria. The bacteria will eat away not only the leftover snack but also chew into the enamel of the tooth. If you want your child to skip out on needing dental fillings, some of the things to cut down on giving them are:
- Chips
- Pretzels
- Crackers
- Cereal
- Bread
- Pasta
It is not necessary to cut out all starch out of your child’s diet. However, when it comes to pasta for dinner or other starch-heavy meals, the sooner you can make sure your child’s teeth are cleaned, the better.
Gummy Or Sticky Snacks
Many parents know not to indulge their child in eating too many treats such as toffee and gummy worms. But some companies have aggressively marketed their treats as “health” and may catch parents off-guard with how bad they are for your children’s teeth. Some of the foods to keep away or closely monitor consumption are:
- Fruit snacks
- Dried fruits
- Candies vegetable or fruits
Juice
Aside from water, there are very few other kinds of drinks your children should be having on a regular basis. Many drinks, ranging from juice boxes to sports drinks, are packed with sugar. The sugar attracts the bacteria to eat at your kids’ teeth. Even diet soda should be restricted, even without sugar to attract bacteria. The acid in both types of soda will wear at your kids’ teeth.
Also, your children need the hydration from plain water to help their developing teeth stay strong. Some drinks to keep off your kids’ drink menu are:
- Sports drink
- Juices
- Flavored milk
- Soda (including diet)
Acidic Snacks Like Citrus
While citruses offer a lot of great vitamins and other nutritional benefits, you should limit your children’s intake of any citruses. As citruses are highly acidic, the acid will eat at the enamel of your children’s teeth and leave them vulnerable to cavity-causing bacteria.
Hard Candy
Just in case you were wondering, hard candy and kids don’t mix all that well. Many children cannot resist crunching down on hard candy, which can cause cracks in their teeth. Even if your children resist the urge to preemptively crunch their candy, the sugar lingering in their mouths is doing their teeth no favors.
Pre-packaged Snacks
Food companies try to target busy families with their fast and easy prepackaged snacks. Yet these snack packs tend to be full of all the foods which can quickly become a detriment to your children’s teeth. Some examples of pre-packaged snacks you should avoid are:
- Lunchables
- Filled crackers
- Trail mixes
To help prevent dental issues for your children, contact us for your child’s bi-annual dental checkup. Our dentists are experienced in working with children and can put them at ease during their appointments. So, as you help cut the worst snacks out of your kids’ lives, allow our dentists help to make sure your kids’ teeth stay in top shape.