When promoting oral care to our children, teaching them how to brush correctly is just the first step. A healthy, balanced diet is also key to having a healthy set of teeth.
This requires as much discipline from the parents as it does from the child. You have to refrain from thinking that children are naturally inclined to want these unhealthy foods. If you want to know more about promoting dental care for kids, visit a children’s dentist in South Jordan. Try these diet changes at home and witness those teeth gradually become stronger.
Fill up on fruits and veggies
The ideal diet stays the same, even when it comes to dental care: lots of fruits and leafy vegetables. Aside from the fact that they’re packed with nutrients and minerals, healthy, crunchy foods like apples and carrots can wipe away plaque from your kid’s teeth. Meanwhile, water-rich fruits and veggies like cucumber, melons, pears, and celery can help clean teeth, and citrus fruits loaded with vitamin C can kill bacteria that cause gingivitis.
Say no to sugary drinks
Stop serving soda and other carbohydrate drinks as much as possible – and yes, this includes diet soda. The large amounts of sugar and acid cause tooth decay and can even weaken the bones. The same also happens when your child drinks too much juice drinks with high levels of fructose corn syrup.
Just opt for water. It’s not only healthier, but it also helps wash away bacteria from your mouth.
Cut back on chewy candies
Candies are bad for your kids because of two things. First, they’re laced with way too much sugar, and second, the acid is harder to wash away the sticker and chewier the candy is. Steer clear of sugary sweets like toffee, gum, caramel candies, raisins, and treats with honey, syrup, or molasses.
If unavoidable, give these as dessert treats after meals, when there’s more saliva in the mouth to wash these away.
Avoid starch as much as possible
It’s tough, impossible even, to avoid starchy and refined carbohydrates like chips, soft bread, and pasta as an adult; what more as a kid? But we have to; these starches turn into simple sugars that can bond with the bacteria in our mouths. They can even get stuck between our teeth.
Get a daily dose of dairies
Calcium is essential for oral care since it keeps our jawbones healthy. The best place to get this is from dairy products like eggs, milk, cheese, and yogurt, but you can also find this in beans and brown rice. The good thing is that these foods are also rich in phosphorus, which further strengthens our bones.
Have some lean proteins
Lean protein found in lean cuts of beef, skinless poultry, and white fish helps keeps the enamel in our teeth strong, and it gives children an extra boost of energy for the day. You can pair these with whole-wheat foods such as brown rice or oats. These fiber-rich foods are also beneficial in keeping your kid’s teeth and gums clean.
What’s nice about these diet choices is that they’re perfectly applicable to adults, too. Practice shifting your diet with your child so that everyone in the household has perfectly healthy teeth!