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A healthy diet will help your child grow and maintain healthy teeth. The foods that support healthy bones and teeth from inside your child will also protect their teeth from the outside in. Sugars, particularly sticky candy products, offer little nutritional benefit and will damage teeth from the outside.
Table of Contents
Understanding Cavities and Diet
Healthy teeth require a regular dose of calcium. You can improve this calcium intake by making sure that every time your child picks up their fork, they’re feeding their tummy and their teeth.
Dairy products
Milk, yogurt and cheese are an ideal source of readily bioavailable calcium. Do take care to make sure that your child is not loading up their milk with sugar. Chocolate milk is yummy, but it’s tougher on teeth than plain milk. Consider looking for milk fortified with Vitamin D.
Yogurts can also be loaded with sugar. If your child has an interest in cooking, you may be able to help them develop a taste for plain yogurt. Fresh, plain yogurt can be loaded with fresh fruit. Making homemade parfaits can be a fun way to increase your child’s intake of both plain yogurt and fruits that are loaded with Vitamin C.
Cheese is more than a flavoring. Mac and cheese may be a favorite of your child, but cheese powder is not a good source of calcium. Grated cheese can be used to make macaroni and cheese. If your schedule and workload don’t allow time for homemade mac and cheese, try to incorporate cheese into snacks, sandwiches and roll-ups.
Greens
Green veggies, such as spinach and kale, are a great source of calcium. If you struggle with developing a taste for kale, your children may not enjoy it either! Consider rolling up your fresh, clean kale leaves and cutting them into thin strips to avoid a negative texture response.
If the bitterness of greens is off-putting to your children, you can take the edge off with an oil and vinegar dressing. Dried fruits, such as raisins and apricots, can sweeten these greens.
Broccoli is another green veggie that is loaded with calcium. This is another food that may be unpalatable to children at certain points in their growth. If you or your little ones aren’t crazy about broccoli, consider pairing fresh broccoli with salty dressings and add-ons to bring out the natural sweetness of broccoli.
Foods Rich in Vitamin D
Eggs, tuna and salmon are all rich in Vitamin D. If you don’t eat eggs or seafood, seek out fortified products; many juices are loaded with extra Vitamin D. Make sure you also get some sun!
Understanding Cavities and Diet
Fragile teeth are more prone to cavities. Diet can help to prevent cavities in kids; these cavity-preventing foods can also reduce cavity risk in adults. The connection between sugar and tooth decay has been shared for years, but the concept of dental-friendly diets for kids is less well-known.
It can be hard to make sure that your child avoids foods that cause cavities. Cookies, candy and other sticky sweets seem to be everywhere. A child left to their own devices is unlikely to choose broccoli for a snack if cookies are available. Being stringent about providing healthy snacks for teeth and bone development can be a challenge!
A diet rich in sugar will feed dangerous bacteria that can contribute to pediatric dental health issues. To make sure that your children have a healthy biome in their mouth and along their digestive tract, do your best to reduce both their sugar intake and the amount of time that sugar remains in their mouth and on their teeth.
High-Risk Foods to Avoid
Maintaining enamel strength in kids takes both dietary maintenance and oral care. If you and your children take a break from crafting or playing for a sweet treat, go back into the house and brush your teeth together.
Talk with your children about how dangerous sticky sweets can be to their teeth. Pay attention to their intake of gummy worms, caramel and taffy. Let them know how dangerous hard candy can be to the health of their teeth.
Beverages are also risky to teeth. Sugary drinks will leave a film on teeth that can feed dangerous bacteria and increase the risk of tooth decay. Fruit juices may provide vitamins and minerals, but they also leave sugar in the mouth that can damage teeth.
Make sure you also talk to your children about starchy foods. Crackers and other snack foods are all around and may be offered to your children Starches break down and leave sugar to linger on teeth. If your child has the chance to brush after meals and snacks, encourage them to think about what they’ve eaten and how it can impact their teeth.
Treats are all well and good, and nobody wants to completely deny their child candy. However, you can help them build proper habits for cleaning up after ingesting candy to protect their teeth for the long term.
Alternative Healthy Snacks
Get your children in the habit of enjoying healthy snacks. Set a great example by enjoying a handful of nuts or a piece of string cheese. When you bring home your groceries, put in some prep time and chop up vegetables for easy snacking so older children can make a healthy choice on their own.
As you talk about promoting dental health, consider referring to authoritative sources. Your older children may find Luna Pediatric Dentistry diet advice worth the read; ask them to explain the ideas presented in their own words.
Importance of Balanced Meals
Children are visual learners. Get them in the habit of diagramming out a plate of healthy food. Let them color in green spinach, orange carrots and yogurt with fruit. Make space for a starch and a protein, talking about how the ingredients in a balanced meal go to work building healthy teeth!
Tips for Parents
As you can, get on top of snacks. Many pre-packaged children’s snacks seem to be designed to cling to and damage teeth. Invest in individual, washable containers that you can load with fresh veggies, nuts or cheese cubes. You can make this endeavor an environmental project as well!
If you have space, start a garden so children can see veggies from the ground up. Grow fresh herbs and greens in a flower bed. In addition to coloring their plates with greens, let them work the salad spinner.
Conclusion
A quality diet is the best way to provide your child with healthy teeth and gums. Your child will certainly eat candy and starchy snacks, but you can protect them by making sure that their meals are built around proper nutrition.
Book appointments for childrens dental care Richmond. Each visit to your Richmond pediatric dentist should be fun. Make sure you start your dental health education for children early. Let them see you brushing your teeth. Talk with them about your food choices and how you care for your teeth in the middle of the day.
Call to Action
Parents don’t have to feel that they’re fighting a losing battle! Yes, sugary drinks and snacks are going to be out there. However, the team at Luna Pediatric Dentistry will back up your preference for broccoli and greens! Make sure your child learns to enjoy dental checkups; don’t wait until they’re in pain to start dental care.