As a parent, you take your job seriously. You are always looking for ways to help your kids stay healthy. That’s why you know to make sure your children brush their teeth so often.
That’s also why you probably limit how much sugar and candy your kids enjoy. But there are other ways your kids can hurt their teeth. There are also sources of sugar in their diet that you might not be aware of.
Call our Winnipeg, MB dental office today at 204-977-8515 and schedule a new appointment. Our dentists can see children as young as one year old. Regular dental visits can help protect teeth.
How You Can Help Keep Your Family’s Teeth Healthy
But what can you do to help at home? Here are a few tips to help keep your children’s smiles healthy. Of course, these are just tips and do not replace regular brushing, flossing, and dental checkups.
- Offer water to drink more often than not. It’s free from sugar, and it helps wash away food particles.
- Limit sugar and desserts to occasional treats.
- Brush twice each day and floss once each night.
- If your kids are active, consider getting them an athletic mouthguard.
Common Drinks That Could Hurt Teeth
By know, you likely know how bad a can of regular, sugary pop can be for teeth. That’s because of all that sugar. The harmful bacteria behind cavities and gum disease thrive on sugar, increasing the chances of you having those dental problems.
Pop is not the only drink you need to worry about, though. Here are four other drinks that could hurt your kids’ teeth.
FRUIT JUICES
It’s true that fruit juice normally has many vitamins in it, so it can be healthy for your body as a whole. However, fruit juice as two qualities that can cause damage to your family’s teeth.
First, they have a lot of sugar in them. Even all-natural, unsweetened fruit juice will have sugar in it. When you drink juice, you’re coating your teeth and gums in that liquid sugar. This will feed the harmful bacteria.
Second, they also have high acidity. This acid is not the same as what harmful bacteria produce, but it will still slowly erode the enamel on your kids’ teeth.
TEA AND COFFEE DRINKS
How these affect your teeth depends on how you take it. Plain tea and coffee (meaning without sugar or cream) are normally dark enough to leave tiny stains behind on your teeth. Keep drinking either long enough, and your white teeth will start to look dull and darker.
Tea and coffee are also highly acidic. As with fruit juices, this can erode and weaken your kids’ enamel.
But it’s the sugar that normally goes into tea and coffee drinks that makes it tough. A can of soda often has 39 grams of sugar. That large double double normally has 34 grams of sugar. As you can see, the two drinks are almost as bad for your family’s teeth due to the sugar content.
ENERGY DRINKS
You might not let your younger kids enjoy energy drinks, but teens might like these. However, be careful and read the label of these energy drinks. Some have close to or even around the same amount of sugar as a can of regular pop.
SPORTS DRINKS
While some can have sugar, most sports drinks do not. Then what’s the problem? Most sports drinks are full of carbohydrates. They’re designed to revitalize you and let you stay active. Unfortunately, carbohydrates are very similar to sugar as far as harmful bacteria are concerned. They can thrive on both, increasing your risk of gum disease and tooth decay.
DIET POP
Many people think diet pop is great for your dental health because it usually has no sugar in it. That part is true. If sugar feeds the harmful bacteria behind tooth decay and gum disease, limiting the sugar in your diet will help. However, most pop is full of acid. Again, that acid can erode your enamel over time.
Call Lakewood Dental Centre today at 204-977-8515 or use our online form to make a new appointment for your whole family (or at least anyone older than one year old).