Food and drink containing sugar causes tooth decay in your children’s teeth. If you control how often your child has sugary food and drink, it will lessen the sugar attacks on their teeth and really benefit their oral health.
Here at Teeth Team, we recommend looking at your child’s diet and the amount of sugar they eat and how often they have it… then consider how you can reduce it.
Every time your child eats and drinks anything sugary their teeth are under attack from the plaque acids for up to one hour. This is because the sugar mixes with bacteria in the plaque to produce harmful acids.
Wherever possible keep sugary foods and drinks to mealtimes only and if they are hungry between meals, chose foods that are kind to teeth and don’t have added sugar – like the following 12 healthy options:
- cheese
- breadsticks
- raw vegetable pieces
- fresh fruit
- plain yogurt
- hummus
- rice cakes
- crumpets
- plain bagels
- plain popcorn
- cheese scones
- unsweetened cereal
Good savoury snacks include hummus and savoury sandwiches filled with tuna and cucumber, cheese, egg and cress, chicken and sweetcorn and cold meats.
A word about fruit
Fruit does contain acids, which can erode teeth, however, this is only damaging to your child’s teeth if they eat an unusually large amount. Try to limit dried fruit as it is high in sugar and can stick to the teeth. If your child will eat fruit as a snack, try to give them something alkaline such as cheese afterwards.
Water and milk are always the best choices for your child to drink.
For more helpful tips visit our advice pages on our website.