A lot of parents give their kids snacks throughout the day. Sometimes they just need a little something to hold them over until the next meal. When buying and preparing snacks for your children, it’s important to remember that what they eat affects their dental health.
Does Your Child’s Diet Promote A Healthy Smile?
Getting your child to eat healthy foods may be a challenge depending on how picky of an eater you have on your hands. However, a healthy diet is crucial to your child’s overall health - including their teeth and gums. A daily routine of brushing and flossing is necessary, but your child may still face tooth decay or other oral issues without proper vitamins and minerals in their diet. If you’re having trouble knowing what your child needs for a healthy smile, Charlotte Pediatric Dentistry can help.
Vital Vitamins for Good Oral Health
Just like your child’s immune system needs Vitamin C or their bones need Vitamin D, your child’s teeth and gums benefit from vitamins as well. For strong oral health, your child should have vitamins A, C, and D in their diet.
Vitamin A is essential to saliva production. Saliva makes food easier to swallow, aids with digestion, and helps rid teeth and gums of food and bacteria. To promote more vitamin A consumption, consider adding carrots, tuna, cantaloupe, spinach, sweet potato, or butternut squash to your child’s diet.
Vitamin C is an antioxidant that helps protect your child’s gums. Vitamin C helps reduce inflammation and promotes healing to the gum tissue. Vitamin C can be found in oranges, strawberries, broccoli, brussel sprouts, and peppers.
To create healthy teeth, your child requires Vitamin D. Good sources of vitamin D include red meat, salmon, eggs, and milk. Vitamin D can also be absorbed through sunlight. With a healthy amount of vitamin D to help absorb calcium, your child will build and develop strong, dense teeth.
Important Minerals for Healthy Teeth
Don’t forget about crucial minerals in your child’s diet as well. In addition to fluoride, your child’s teeth need calcium, potassium, and magnesium to have strong, sound teeth.
Why Calcium Is Important for Dental Health
Calcium, needed for development of the teeth and a protective barrier from bacteria, is considered one of the most important minerals for great oral health. Calcium is responsible for teeth growing and fighting off tooth decay. To help boost calcium consumption for your child, make sure you’re including foods like cheese, yogurt, spinach, kale, soybeans, and enriched breads and grains.
The Importance of Potassium and Magnesium for Kids' Teeth
In addition to calcium, the human body needs potassium and magnesium to help build, strengthen, and protect the teeth. Potassium helps teeth absorb calcium and increase the density of teeth. Potassium is necessary to prevent brittle teeth. Good sources of potassium include peas, mushrooms, potatoes, bananas, oranges, and cooked broccoli and spinach.
Magnesium, like potassium, prevents the blood from becoming too acidic and reduces the calcium the teeth can absorb. Magnesium is also responsible for forming enamel on teeth. Enamel is a hard tissue that forms as a tough coating on the outside of the tooth. Spinach, legumes, whole grains, seeds, and nuts are a great source of magnesium in your child’s diet.
6 Best Snacks to Prevent Cavities for Kids (and Adults!)
Children don’t often brush their teeth after snacks at school or home, so foods and drinks they’re having should be friendly to the health of their teeth. To help parents, Charlotte Pediatric Dentistry is giving you six healthy smile snack ideas:
Cheese
It is low in sugar and high in calcium, crucial for maintaining bone density. Cheese contains a protein called casein, that helps protect tooth enamel.
Nuts
Different types of nuts offer several elements beneficial to strengthening teeth. For example, walnuts contain fiber, folic acid, magnesium, iron, niacin, vitamin E, vitamin B6, potassium and zinc.
Eggs
Eggs are surprisingly good for teeth as they contain vitamins D and K, and phosphorus. Phosphorus supports calcium in building strong teeth.
Raw Veggies
Cruciferous vegetables, like broccoli, offers tons of vitamin C and K. These vitamins are important for bone health and proper blood clotting. These veggies also serve as natural teeth cleaners!
Yogurt
Just like cheese, yogurt is high in calcium - great for tooth development. Yogurt also contains probiotics that act against cavity-producing bacteria. Make sure to choose a yogurt for your child that is not packed with sugar and additives, as these can be damaging to teeth,
Apples
Full of fiber, apples are beneficial to the body’s overall health. Apples also induce the production of saliva, which washes bacteria and prevents tooth decay.
5 Healthy Snacks That Aren't Good For Your Teeth
Many foods that are touted as “healthy” are not-so-healthy for your little one’s smile. Excess sugar and unhealthy fat lurks in many unsuspecting foods. Sugar sticks to your child’s teeth and causes tooth decay.
Raw veggies, for example, are generally good for you - until you dunk them in a bowl of dressing with high fat content. Fruit juice sounds healthy in theory - until sugars and syrup are added.
Practicing moderation is important to proper overall nutrition and dental health - especially when it comes to the following foods.
Trail Mix
Trail mix can be a healthy alternative to sweet and salty snacks such as chips and cookies, but be careful when selecting trail mix. Look at the sugar content on the label when determining which trail mix to give your child. A simple alternative is to make your own healthy snack mix at home. Good news - you don’t have to sacrifice flavor for health! Try this tasty recipe that even the kids will love.
Dried Fruit
Dried fruit is often found in trail mixes and can be purchased as an on-the-go snack. Because the water content has been removed from the fruit, you actually consume more fruit than you would if the fruit was in its original form. Many dried fruits you find on the shelves contain loads of refined sugars and hydrogenated oils to increase their shelf life.
Key takeaway - if your dried fruit contains more than just fruit, it’s best to leave it on the shelf and opt for fresh or dried with less/no sugar!
Granola
Like many of the foods we’ve already mentioned, granola can be healthy, but many granolas you find at the grocery store are packed with sugar, sugar substitutes, vegetable oil, and butter. You can create a tasty, healthy granola at home by using dry oats, unsalted nuts of your choice, cinnamon, and egg whites.
Yogurt
Yogurt typically serves as a healthy dairy treat and a probiotic, which is good for digestive health. However, many of the yogurts you see in the dairy aisle are loaded with dyes and loads of sugar. Yogurt contains lactose, which is a form of natural sugar found in milk, but many yogurts contain added sugar, as well. Food Network advises you to skip it if there are too many unpronounceable ingredients.
Smoothies
Because smoothies are made entirely from fruit, they have the potential to be full of sugar. With the right combination of fruits and vegetables, smoothies can be a source of fuel and nutrients. Choose fruits that have a lower sugar content and opt for water instead of coconut water or orange juice.
Charlotte Pediatric Dentistry Reminders
Remember to give your child age appropriate foods. Foods should be cut up carefully for younger children to avoid choking hazards.
Children should drink water when thirsty and rinse after meals and snacks. Water will help remove food particles from teeth and gums to prevent plaque and tooth decay.
Ask Your Local Pediatric Dentist
If you are concerned about your child’s diet, talk to your trusted pediatric dentist. They can help you make healthier choices for your little one. Contact us today at our Cotswold, Gastonia, Waverly, Davidson, or University locations to discuss better oral health for your child!
