Patient Education
Many children love sugary snacks, but sugary snacks can cause cavities. Sugars and starches mix with the bacteria that live in your mouth and produce acids that cause cavities. Snacking less than three times each day allows saliva to counteract the effect of acids and repair tooth enamel.
Tips to help prevent cavities:
- Eat fresh fruit, vegetables and cheese. These foods increase saliva flow, which neutralizes damaging acids.
- Encourage your child to sit down and enjoy a snack in one sitting and do not let your child eat continuously.
- Drink water after snacking to help rinse the sugar off the teeth. It is even better if you can brush after snacking.
Snacks and Foods that are good for your teeth:
- Fresh fruit, Vegetables, Cottage Cheese & Frozen Yogurt
- Cheese and String Cheese
- Eggs and Nuts
- Meat and Water
Foods and Snack to limit:
- Raisins, Dried Fruit, Honey and Juice
- Chips, Cake, Tea, Coffee with sugar
- Jellies, Jams, Milk and Kool-Aid
- Lollipops, Hard Candy, Sticky Candy, Bananas and Soda
- Chewy Granola Bars, Crackers/Cookies, Energy Drinks
- Fruit Rolls, Fruit Snacks, Donuts, and Sport Drinks (Gatorade)
Bring your child for his/her first dental visit by their first birthday or after the first tooth erupts.- Visit the dentist every six months to ensure good oral health and to prevent future problems
- Do not put your baby to bed with a bottle or a sippy cup. Sugar can pool in the mouth for hours, resulting in decay.
- If you are nursing, wipe your baby’s teeth with a damp washcloth after you are done. Avoid using the bottle or the breast as a pacifier.
- Between the ages of 12 months and 18 months of age, wean your baby off the bottle. A sippy cup of water can be introduced at about six months of age.
- Do not allow your child to walk around with a bottle or sippy cup. Your child should finish a drink within 20 minutes in order to avoid decay.
- Avoid cleaning a pacifier in your own mouth before offering it to your child.
- It is best to limit sugar intake, even before your baby gets teeth. The sugar acts as fuel for the bacteria in your child’s mouth. Bacteria produce acids that attack the enamel of the teeth. Give your child no more than six ounces of fruit juice a day. Dilute it by 50% water/50% juice.
- Water is the preferred drink. Breast milk, milk and formula, if given too frequently or at bedtime, are especially harmful.
- Fluoride reduces the incidence of early childhood tooth decay. You can start using a smear of toothpaste with fluoride when your child gets teeth.
Fruit juice may not be as healthy for your child (or his teeth) as you might think! The American Academy of Pediatrics makes the following recommendations.
Caries is an infectious disease that is transmitted from parents or caregivers to the child. The bacteria are passed on to the baby through sharing utensils, food, kissing or cleaning the pacifier with your own mouth before giving it to your baby. It attaches to the gums, even before teeth erupt and will not only affect baby teeth, but also the permanent teeth that form under them. That is why it is just as important for parents and caregivers to maintain good oral health to prevent transferring the bacteria to the child. Dental professionals and parents need to work as a team in order to promote good oral health and to prevent cavities throughout life.
