Nutrition and Healthy Teeth - Tips to Promote Good Oral in Children

2. Introduction • Most parents restrict their children from eating too much candy because of course, too much sugar can cause cavities and tooth decay. • But did you know there are many other foods that can affect your kid’s teeth and oral health? • Dental health of children is closely connected to food they eat. And, it’s not just what food and drinks your children consume that affects their teeth but when and how they consume their food and drink also has a great impact on their oral health. • Besides promoting proper dental hygiene habits, teaching your kids to make nutritional dietary choices is necessary to help maintain healthy teeth and good oral hygiene.

3. Choosing Foods that Promote Healthy Teeth and Gums #1 • To encourage healthy eating for good dental health, it is important to rethink your child’s daily meals. While planning their well-balanced diet, the first thing you want to do is eliminate all unhealthy snacking options from their diet. • Food high in carbohydrates, starches and sugars when consumed in copious amounts or left in the mouth for too long after eating provide harmful bacteria with constant food to eat, which leads to development of too decay. Some of the foods that are rich in starches, carbohydrates and sugars you want your kids to avoid include: • • Cake & Pastries • Ice Cream • • Cookies • Sodas • • Hard candies • Potato chips • • Caramel • Pretzels • • Gummy warms • Citrus fruits

4. Choosing Foods that Promote Healthy Teeth and Gums #2 • It is important to limit snacking as much as possible and pick only healthy options to snack that we would discuss next about. • There are a variety of foods that can benefit your children’s teeth and improve overall oral health. • Here are some healthy choices from large food groups that you can include in your kids’ diet.

5. Fruit and vegetables • Pick crunchy raw fruits with high water content such as pears, melons, celery, • Fruits rich in Vitamin C are go-to options including strawberries, papaya, lime, kiwis, cantaloupe and oranges. • For veggies, pick red, yellow and orange peppers, carrot, cucumber, sweet potatoes, and tomatoes.

6. Dairy, Nuts and Seeds • Yoghurt, milk, and cheese. • Pumpkin, sunflower and sesame seeds contain calcium and essential oils that strengthen enamel. • Nuts are a great source of healthy fats that safeguard teeth against bacteria.

7. Sources of Protein and Minerals Lean meats, chicken, turkey, white fish, beans and eggs are good sources of energy and help strengthen tooth enamel. Go for low-fat milk, yogurt, cheese and broccoli, beef, tofu, fortified cereals, whole grain bread, leafy green vegetables.

8. Safe Snacks • Vegetable sandwiches with healthy fillings like salad veggies, tuna, low fat cheese, egg, cold meat, tomatoes. • Sugar free gums sweetened with Xylitol stimulates salvia production while decreasing bacteria in the mouth. • Oatcakes, peanut butter toast, rice cakes.

9. To Sum Up Promoting a healthy and well-balanced in children from an early age can help them develop habits that will benefit their teeth and overall health in the long run. So, the next time you ask your child to brush their teeth twice a day and floss once daily, do remember to encourage them to eat large amounts of foods and drinks mentioned above. Besides well-balanced diet, it would be a good idea to educate your children about basic dental oral hygienic and dental emergencies likely to occur to them in order to have them prepared and reduce the chances of serious or permanent damage. While you educate and prepare your children for dental emergencies, it is important to find a reliable after-hours dentist. It would be a great help to have a dental practitioner and service you can count on when the unexpected occurs.

10. Reach us Smile Concepts Address : Level 4, 307 Pitt Street, Sydney, NSW, 2000 Phone : (02) 9002 7474 Business Hours : 24 Hours Website : www.emergencydentistsydneycity.com.au Email : info@emergencydentistsydneycity.com.au