Having a good smile is important to help children feel more confident in social situations, be better equipped to meet new people and face new challenges. According to a recent survey by Philips Sonicare for USA Today, 47% of respondents said a great smile is what they notice first and are attracted to.
A great smile will help your children now and in the future because nearly half of everyone surveyed said they notice a person’s smile first.
We want to start our children out with healthy habits and learning to care for their teeth. We teach them to brush at least every morning and every night and that more often is even better.
We know that there are some snacks that we should avoid for the health of our children’s teeth because brushing and flossing alone isn’t always enough.
Below we have listed the top 4 snack products your child should avoid for better teeth:
1) Hard candy
Hard candy is a long lasting and sugary snack. Hard candies come in a variety of shapes, styles, colors and flavors making them very appealing. They include such candies as gumdrops, gummies and lollipops in a variety of flavors such as fruity, sour, chocolate and caramel.
As children enjoy hard candy, it actually keeps the sugar in the mouth longer. This is exposing the teeth to the sugary substances for a longer period of time which is unhealthy for their teeth. Sugar should stay in the mouth for as short of a time as possible because when it lingers, it can do more damage to teeth.
Hard candy can also pose a risk of actually chipping or cracking a tooth creating a dental emergency.
2) Sticky food
Crunchy foods such as snack chips and crackers often leave a layer of food particles
Foods that are sticky such as candy and even dried fruit can damage their teeth as it remains on it longer. Dried fruit is often thought of as a healthy snack for children, however, this sticky product can cling to the teeth and does contain a concentrated amount of sugar even it if is only the naturally occurring sugar. So sticky food can have some of the same impact of hard candy because it can expose the teeth longer to sugar as the sticky product remains on the teeth. If the kids are enjoying those sticky foods, even rinsing with water if brushing isn’t immediately available could make a difference.
3) Crunchy foods
Crunchy foods such as snack chips and crackers often leave a layer of food particles behind on our teeth which can cause plaque to build up. Crunchy foods which are healthy such as apples and carrots should be cut into bite size bites to avoid possibly chipping or cracking a tooth.
4) Starchy foods
These delicious starchy foods get stuck between teeth and anywhere they can find on and around our teeth. Starches begin converting to sugar almost immediately in the pre-digestive process which begins in our mouths. Then these starchy foods are attempting to adhere to our teeth and wreck havoc.
Little things such as rinsing with water between brushings can possibly help our dental health. It can help rinse these sugary, sticky, crunchy and starchy substances off of our teeth until we can get to a place and time where we can brush with a dentist recommended toothpaste and floss our teeth.
