Diet & Oral Health for Kids
When it comes to maintaining good oral health for kids, the priority is not only to keep teeth clean but to make sure their diet contributes to a healthy mouth too. Maintaining strong teeth is important at every age, even for children who eventually lose their baby teeth.
Nutrition Dos and Don’ts to Support Healthy Teeth and Gums
A balanced diet is important for everyone. Kids especially need a healthy foundation when it comes to growth and development, including an awareness of the foods and drinks that have an impact on their oral health.
- Don’t eat at bedtime. Ingesting anything at bedtime – even milk – is a bad idea. Saliva flow is reduced during sleep which feeds acidic enamel erosion. Adjust your routine to ensure that brushing teeth and gums is one of the last things your child does before they lay their head on the pillow.
- Do keep sweet stuff for meals. If your child is going to eat dessert or sweets, keep it to meals when their mouth is already teeming with digestive saliva, sweeping their teeth clean.
- Don’t let your child sleep with a cup or bottle. A sippy cup or bottle may be a bedtime comfort measure but constant sipping of any beverage but water will leave sugar on tiny teeth, promote bacteria growth and acid production in the mouth, erode tooth enamel, and contribute to cavity formation.
- Do stick with water. Keep your child hydrated through the day with water only. Make this the main drink at meals as often as possible and always between meals to keep teeth clean and sugar-free and enhance remineralization and reduce harmful bacteria.
Best Nutrition Practices for Strong Oral Health for Kids
It’s not always easy to get children to enjoy nutritious foods that are good for their minds and bodies but encouraging them to eat essential nutrients supports tooth development, enamel strength, and absorption of calcium, iron, and other vitamins, especially for kids under the age of five.
- Serve kids cheese, yogurt (low in sugar), and plain milk
- Prioritize a variety of fruits and vegetables
- Provide fluoridated water at meals and for hydration
- Minimize the intake of sugary foods
- Avoid sugar-sweetened beverages and excess juice consumption
- Limit frequent snacking to allow saliva time to neutralize acids
Establish Good Eating Habits Early for Healthy Teeth
What goes in your child’s body impacts their oral health directly. The mouth is not just a route to the stomach, it’s a system all its own that needs to function properly to keep teeth and gums healthy and strong in childhood and beyond.
Healthy eating routines are good for your kids in all ways. Combining smart nutrition and deliberate eating habits with a thorough oral hygiene routine ensures the development of a lifetime of good oral health.
Get Support for Diet and Oral Health for Kids in Edina, MN
When you’re busy raising children, it can be easy to overlook practices that might be detrimental to their teeth and gums. Reviewing oral health routines and diet preferences with your pediatric dentist will help your family identify where beneficial changes can be made and where you excel when it comes to at-home dental care.
By supervising brushing until at least age seven, overseeing all your child’s foods and drinks, and visiting the pediatric dentist regularly, it is possible to keep cavities at bay and eliminate the need for restorative dentistry for kids. At Kid Grins, Dr. Mitchell Loeb and his team take all aspects of oral health care seriously – even while we’re making it as fun as possible for our young patients. Contact us to schedule a consultation and start to build your child’s foundation for a lifetime of good oral health.
