BETTER DIET FOR BETTER ORAL HEALTH

Here at the clinic we have been seeing more and more kids with dental decay (cavities). What is leading to this rise in dental disease? Increase in processed foods and sugary drinks consumption has been playing a big part in this. So what can we do to improve our and our kids eating habits? Here are some simple tips:

~Limit any sweet foods and keep these to mealtimes. Snacks don’t give your teeth enough recovery time from acid and sugar attack

~Limit softdrinks, juices, flavoured milk, sportsdrinks. Stick to water and plain milk. Remember that boiled or tap water contains tooth-strengthening fluoride, while bottled and most filtered water doesn’t, meaning you are missing out on vital fluoride intake.

~Choose healthy snacks, especially in school lunchboxes, eg. fresh fruit and vegies, plain yogurt, plain popcorn and rice crackers, cheese.

~Keep away from dried fruit, muesli bars, flavoured crackers – all of these stick to teeth increasing the chance of cavities developing.

~Make sure that you have a drink of water to wash any food out and away from the teeth. A piece of cheese after sweet or acidic food may also help to reverse decaying process.