Monday, December 8, 2014

Kid’s Tooth Decay: Development and Prevention

When you become a parent, worry becomes a normal part of life. Whether it's sending the kids off to school or worrying about the latest virus in the media, every parent manages their fear of the unknown daily. One area where parents should not worry is their children's teeth. Teaching your young ones to make good choices about food and proper oral care goes a long way toward creating a healthy, happy human being.

Tooth decay remains a significant problem in dental care. Any kid's dentist will tell you that it is imperative to educate yourself and your young ones about making good choices. Tooth decay begins when food containing lots of sugar and starch (foods that make up a significant portion of the American diet today) is used by bacteria in our mouth to create acids. These acids begin to slowly eat away the enamel that makes up our teeth. The loss of minerals in teeth due to these acids (demineralization) will cause tooth decay over time as teeth begin to weaken and decay.

Young children and adolescents are especially susceptible to these dangers due to their diet. Schools, fast food restaurants, and the snack aisle contain lots of opportunities to choose foods that could cause tooth decay. Sugar laden foods, fruit juices, and snacks all begin problems that your kid's dentist finally sees during a visit to the office. Small choices every day about what we eat influences dental hygiene, good or bad.

Creating good dental hygiene habits in your children is especially important. Habits start early and can make the difference between strong teeth and tooth decay. Childhood tooth decay, also known as pediatric dental disease, remains the #1 chronic childhood illness. Early tooth decay often leads to greater problems such as pain and infections in the teeth and mouth. If tooth decay remains untreated, greater problems often occur as well. Difficulty eating or speaking due to pain may lead to malnourishment.

Making good choices about what your children are eating is the first and most important step in creating good, lifelong habits where food choices and tooth care are concerned. Any kid's dentist will share their experiences with the problems created by our diet and what is in our food. Foods that fight tooth decay and promote dental health are especially important.

Calcium rich foods, such as milk and other dairy products, help build tooth and general bone strength. Fiber rich foods, such as fruits and vegetables, help create natural defenses for our teeth. Whole grains, with their high amount of iron and B vitamins, help promote healthy gums. Combining these foods in your child's diet will help ensure that every visit to your kid's dentist is as pleasant as possible. Coupling good food choices with the recommended regimen of flossing, brushing, and regular visits to the dentist will ensure your young one's teeth are healthy and strong.


Taking care of your young and growing child is a big responsibility. A multitude of things exist to protect children from in this day and age. How to properly care for teeth shouldn't be a large source of worry. Consult your kid's dentist to talk about what you can do to help ensure that your young ones grow up with healthy teeth. They will thank you for it years later when the good practices you taught remain with them as adults.

Monday, December 1, 2014

Steps That Will Keep Your Kid's Dentist Happy During the Winter Holidays

The winter holidays can be a great time to be a kid. Children go from dressing up and enjoying candy during Halloween, to visiting family and eating delicious desserts for Thanksgiving, to opening presents and candy stocking stuffers at Christmas time. Winter is when kids have frequent opportunities to eat more sweet foods than they usually do. What does a kid's dentist advise to help a child who may not have a lot of impulse control to prevent cavities even at this sweetest time of the year?

One of the most important things a parent can do to assist their children is to ensure that the children brush their teeth twice a day and don’t eat sugary foods or carbohydrates or drink sugary or carbonated drinks after they brush in the evening. Parents should supervise the brushing of children’s teeth until they are at least 8 years old. Anytime a child has two teeth touching, the child should floss at least twice a day and should be supervised in this until they are 8 as well.

Parents should be active in monitoring what their children eat. Usually, it is best that children don’t snack more than three times a day. Although it is usually advisable to have children snack on foods other than just sweets, the winter holidays do bring out more opportunities to snack on less healthy foods. The most important thing is to not let children eat all through the day and to have them avoid sugary sweets after evening brushing and flossing.

Even milk has sugars that can get between the teeth and cause cavities if a child drinks it after the evening tooth-brushing. Also, sometimes parents will allow more carbonated drinks over the holidays. These can actually cause more damage than a normal sugary beverage, as the acidity of the carbonation can cause an erosion of the enamel as well as the sugar in it can increase the likelihood of a cavity. Often, juices have more sugar in them than parents realize, so reading labels is very important for a child’s tooth care.  Natural sugars are just as hard on our teeth as the refined sugars we use in cooking, baking, etc.

A healthy snack for a child’s teeth is cheese, such as aged cheddar, Swiss, mozzarella, and Monterrey jack. Not only are these cheeses healthier for teeth than sugary snacks, but they also work to clear the mouth of hidden food while neutralizing acids that can harm teeth.


Just because sugary snacks are not healthy for teeth doesn’t mean kids should never eat them.  Just make sure if they are eating sugary or less healthy snacks that they brush when they are done to avoid cavities.  Parents need to be involved and help ensure that their children’s teeth are healthy and their habits are good.