Nutrition & Snacking

Eat for your teeth.

There are many reasons to eat healthy, with 20 being in your child’s mouth. Teeth are a living part of the body. Like other living things, they need vitamins and minerals.

As tasty as they are, you should generally try to avoid sugary snacks. At the same time, try to reduce the number of times your child snacks throughout the day. More frequent snacks mean more chances for tooth decay. Kids who are “grazers” tend to have the most dental decay. Also the more time the snack spends in your child’s mouth, the more likely to cause decay. Try to stay away from snacks such as cookies or fruit roll-ups that stay stuck to your teeth for hours. Better snacks for your child consist of fruits and vegetables, meats and cheeses, yogurt, ice cream, plain chocolate, popcorn, nuts, and peanut butter. 

Do yourself a favor and save juice for special occasions only. Despite it’s sneaky marketing as being “healthy,” all juices (even 100% real juice) are loaded with sugar and empty calories. There is a BIG difference between an apple and apple juice. From both a nutritional and a dental perspective DITCH THE JUICE!

Of course we also like to brush after every meal and think our patients and parents should, too.