Healthy Snacks that Will Ruin Your Child’s Teeth

Establishing a nutritious and balanced diet is one of the best ways to help create a healthy lifestyle for your child, whether they have orthodontics or not. As a parent, you’re always trying to do the best you can for your kids, and being encouraging of making choices like snacking on a piece of fruit instead of potato chips will have a positive effect on their overall health. However, did you also know that some of the foods that are often marketed as healthy are terrible for your teeth?

Before you pack them that “healthy” snack, ask yourself what’s in the food that you’ve chosen for them to eat. Snack smart and be choosy for your kid’s by avoiding these treats:

Foods that May Cause Tooth and Enamel Damage

Trail Mix
Trail mix is a fantastic substitute for an unhealthy snack, but be careful when making your selection of snack mix, especially if your child has an orthodontic appliance. Unhealthy ingredients that can raise the amount of sugar and fat content should be avoided. Add-ins such as chocolate, dried fruit, and candy quickly transform this otherwise healthy snack into an unhealthy one.

Dried Fruit
Most parents think of fruit as a healthy snack, but dried fruit is kind of the exception to the rule. Dried fruit contains much higher levels of sugar than their natural counterparts and little to none of the water.  What helps to make fruit a healthy choice is less present in the dried variety, with the negative elements (sugar) being elevated. On top of an increase in sugar, dried fruit also tends to stick to teeth and braces, making it no better than a piece of gooey candy. (Can break brackets!) When considering fruit as a sugar swap, fresh is best.

Flavoured Water
Not many people want to drink the recommended daily intake of water so drinking a glass of water becomes a little more exciting for your taste buds when you add in a bit of something extra to give it some flavour, and there’s no harm in that…right? Wrong! Depending on your add-in of choice, you might be damaging your enamel more than you think.

Lemon and Lime Wedges
Citric acid within lemons and limes can have a significant damaging effect on your teeth. Citric acid wears away the enamel and allows other acids and sugars access to the tooth underneath, which leads to cavities over time.

Water Drops
These tiny squeeze bottles contain concentrated flavour that can be added to water a few droplets at a time, adding both sweetness and a bright, new colour. If you use water enhancers, follow the guidelines for serving sizes and how many times a day they’re recommended to use. These water drops are often sweetened with sugar and other artificial ingredients that can be damaging to your enamel.

A mouth-healthy diet is an essential piece of maintaining optimal oral health. If you’re concerned about how your child’s diet may be affecting their teeth and their journey with braces, schedule an appointment with Ocean Orthodontics today.