Tooth-Friendly Foods for Kids

Did you ever notice how many kids every day go through tooth decay and gums problems? The main reason behind it is the irregular and ignored care of their parents. Kids need strong and healthy teeth to chew their food and speak and what can be essential for a child’s development and growth than a good, nutritional diet!

You always need to keep a check on what your kid eats as it affects his/her teeth. Intake of an excessive amount of sugar (for example pastries, candies, chocolates, shakes, cakes, cookies, milk and other beverages and eatables), carbohydrates and starches (like potato chips and pretzels) can lead to tooth decay and gum diseases. Longer the carbohydrates remain on your teeth, chances of getting tooth decay increases.

One of the best things parents can do is to help your kid make the best food choices. Here are some tooth-friendly foods for your kid’s healthy teeth:

Citrus Fruits are Friends

Citrus fruits like kiwi, orange, limes, peppers and even strawberries are a good friend of your teeth as they help you strengthen your teeth and giving them shiny white color. As we all know, there are different kinds of bacteria present in the mouth of a child from which some of them can lead to gingivitis (early stage of gum diseases).

By eating fruits, the Vitamin C present in citrus foods helps in killing those bacteria and supports a healthy supply of collagen to gums. Some of the good vegetable options are pepper (red, green or yellow), sweet potato and tomatoes. Dentists say that kids should not brush their teeth just after eating citrus fruits. You should allow them to brush their teeth after at least 30 minutes because if brushing is done before, the citric acid can lead to weakening tooth enamel.

Cheese



Do you know cheese can protect your kid’s teeth from erosion and decaying? That’s right! We often stop our kids from eating cheese but it is quite beneficial for a set of healthy teeth. Basically, cheese is responsible for reducing cavities as it neutralizes plaque acid. The recent dental study says that whenever you eat cheese, the pH level (or more alkaline) on your teeth increases due to which, they remain protected against dental erosion.

Cheese is highly beneficial for the teeth of your kid because it increases saliva content in mouth and that’s how a healthy pH level is maintained in your mouth. So, do not stop your kids from eating cheese in normal amount!

Green beans, Raw carrot and Cauliflower

Here are some of the veggies that are crunchy: green beans, snap beans, raw carrot and cauliflower. Not everybody knows a fact about them i.e. crunchy vegetables are advantageous for kid’s teeth. Crispy, crunchy veggies are “the chewing foods” that automatically cleans teeth and gums of your child. Whenever your child eats these foods, they scrape away the plaque settled on your child’s teeth that build up between meals or get missed while brushing.

Encourage your kid to have crunchy foods and chew them thoroughly for keeping his/her teeth clean.

Nuts, Sunflower seeds and Sesame

To protect your kid’s teeth from bacteria causing tooth decay, make your kid eat as much as nuts, sunflower seeds and sesame. Basically, they contain natural fats that shield teeth to protect against different bacteria. The oil present inside the seeds is meant to strengthen tooth enamel which further makes teeth resistant from cavities. Some of the seeds also contain calcium which is healthy for teeth.

So, here we talked about various tooth-friendly foods which are quite advantageous for your kid’s teeth and overall health too. For expert advice, you can visit your Dentist Greenpoint and ask for a healthy diet plan for your kid’s teeth.