Our Blog
CHILDREN’S DIET AND THEIR DENTAL HEALTH
Date : 2019-02-16
“No Cavities!” two little words every parent hopes to hear at the end of their child’s dental check-up. Good oral hygiene habits, such as brushing with the correct technique twice a day is the best way to prevent cavities, but your child’s diet can still cause cavities.
Even though parents’ are becoming more aware of the need to limit sweets and fizzy drinks to help look after their children’s teeth, more than 50% of our Aussie kids’ are suffering the dental disease known as dental decay.
So what tips do we have to help you reduce the risk of your child developing this preventable disease?
- Avoid snack foods that are sticky, chewy or sweet.
- Have set meal times and keep that routine! Avoid constant snacking.
- Keep fruit in moderation! Fruit is good, but in this case there can be too much of a good thing, limit it to 2 serves per day.
- Water, water everywhere! Make sure your children have water with every meal to help wash away food debris.
- If your kids really need a snack, be selective! Some great and tasty options include cheese, lean meats and veges!
Foods and drinks that are high in natural sugars or starch can cause as much harm as the obviously ‘naughty’ foods and drinks like lollies and fizzy drinks! Being aware of this is important – it doesn’t mean that you have to cut everything out and have a bland and boring diet though – moderation and timing is key!
Reduce the number of times these foods are given to your kids, and make sure they are consumed in a short time frame – for example, some people may say they only have one can of soft drink per day, but they have been sipping on it all day; if they had consumed it all in one go, their teeth would not have been
affected to the same degree, by sipping on the drink all day the teeth have been given essentially a long bath in acid and sugar which can lead to serious dental problems long term.
So how are your kids teeth going? Our friendly Oral Health Professionals are here to help guide your children onto a path of lifelong good oral health!
If you would like to book your family in, call our reception team on 3432 3333 – we can also help you find out if your children are eligible for the Children’s Dental Benefit Scheme and will Bulk Bill them if they are!